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DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 


THIS  LIMITED   EDITION   HAS   BEEN  PRINTED 
FROM    TYPE    AND     THE     TYPE     DISTRIBUTED 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

AN  ILLUSTRATED  IJOOK  ON  COVERINGS  FOR 
FURNITURE,  WALLS  AND  FLOORS,  INCLUDING 
DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS,  TAP- 
ESTRIES, LACES,  EMBROIDERIES,  CHINTZES, 
CRETONNES,  DRAPERY  AND  FURNITURE 
TRIMMINGS,  WALL  PAPERS,  CARPETS  AND 
RUGS,  TOOLED  AND  ILLUMINATED  LEATHERS 


BY 

GEORGE  LELAND  HUNTER 

I' 


WITH  580  ILLUSTRATIONS 
27  PLATES  IN  COLOUR 


PHILADELPHIA  AND  LONDON 
J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 

GRAND  RAPIDS 
THE  DEAN  HICKS  COMPANY 

MCM^VIII 


CoPYHioHT,   1918,  BY   The   Dean-Hicks   Company 


l^io^-i^MxLoLQ:     cuJr-      (tgAfT 


....       .c       .^.<.    .  .        .       •••, 

c  t      *    *  .   '    t-    «   ^      .    »  »    •  •      •  • 


Printed  by  The  Dean-Hicks  Company 

AT  THE  Good  Furniture  Magazine  Press 

Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  U.  S.  A. 


TO  MY  ADORED  WIFE,  ESTHER 


390181 


PREFACE 

Things  made  on  the  loom  are  called  textiles,  from  the  Latin  word 
for  cloth;  and  cloths  used  to  dress  the  walls  and  furniture  of  rooms 
are  called  decorative,  by  contrast  with  architectural,  which  refers 
primarily  to  the  structiu'cs  decorated.  So  that,  when  it  was  decided 
to  publish  this  book  on  rugs  and  carpets ;  tapestries  and  embroideries ; 
damasks,  brocades  and  velvets;  chintzes  and  cretonnes;  drapery  and 
furniture  trimmings,  the  inevitable  title  seemed  to  be  "Decorative 
Textiles."  Xor  did  the  addition  of  chapters  on  Wall  Papers  and 
Illuminated  Leathers  render  the  title  less  appropriate,  because  both 
are  also  decoratively  used,  and  rely  for  their  success  largely  upon 
texture  effects  borrowed  from  textiles. 

This  is  the  first  comprehensive  book  on  the  subject  to  be  pub- 
lished. Embodying,  as  it  does,  the  results  of  manj'  years  of  intimate 
acquaintance  with  weaves  ancient  and  modern,  it  appeals  equally  to 
those  who  buy  and  use,  and  to  those  who  make  and  sell.  Written  in 
simple,  direct  style,  even  when  treating  technical  questions  technically, 
it  will  be  found  invaluable  not  only  to  those  who  study  and  teach  in 
schools  and  colleges,  but  also  to  those  who  read  for  personal  culture 
and  domestic  practice. 

The  need  for  such  a  book  is  patent.  Decorative  Textiles  consti- 
tute the  most  important  and  beautiful  part  of  the  furnishings  of  our 
homes.  Upon  them  we  are  principally  dependent  for  our  aesthetic 
environment.  Upholsteries  and  draperies  with  their  interwoven  pat- 
terns in  rich  coloiu-s  appeal  greatly  to  both  sight  and  touch,  and  trans- 
form palace  and  cottage  alike  from  cold  to  comfortable.  Damasks, 
brocades  and  velvets,  after  centuries  of  aristocratic  seclusion,  have  by 
modern  indusitrial  methods  and  by  modern  machinery  been  brought 
within  the  reach  of  even  the  comparatively  poor.  All  of  us  are  con- 
stantly surroimded  by  ornament  in  the  form  of  Decorative  Textiles 
on  chairs  and  couches  and  floors  and  walls  and  windows. 

The  information  on  the  subject  embodied  in  dictionaries  and 


encj'clopa?dias  and  other  books  of  reference,  in  all  languages  and  in 
all  countries,  is  often  incorrect,  generally  antiquated  and  alwaj:s  inade- 
quate. Automobiles  and  aeroplanes  have  their  up-to-the-minute  his- 
toi'ians;  but  Decorative  Textiles,  with  the  exception  of  Tapestries 
and  Oriental  Rugs,  have  been  slighted. 

More  than  I  can  express,  I  am  indebted  to  my  publishers  for  the 
wealth  of  jjictured  examples,  many  in  colour.  To  an  unprecedented 
degree  do  these  examples  reflect  on  printed  jjaper  the  texture  of 
woven  fabrics.  In  an  extraordinary  manner  do  they  render  it  possible 
for  me,  in  my  text,  to  present  clearly  to  the  public  and  to  the  trade, 
the  interesting  facts.  Delightfully  easy  do  they  make  it  for  anyone 
to  become  familiar  with  the  Decorative  Textiles  of  all  countries  and 
all  periods. 

The  main  text  of  my  book  is  of  course  Texture.  The  word  is 
Latin  for  weave,  and  as  might  be  expected,  it  is  produced  most  richly 
on  the  loom.  It  is  of  Textiles  the  most  distinctive  quality,  and  when 
applied  to  other  materials  such  as  wood,  marble  and  brick,  iron,  bronze 
and  gold,  paint,  paper  and  cement,  is  merely  a  borrowed  and  imita- 
tive term. 

Consequently,  while  keeping  design  and  pattern  and  coloin*  and 
their  historic  development  constantly  before  me,  I  have  in  every  chaj)- 
ter  accentuated  the  importance  of  Texture.  I  have  shown  thai 
texture  is  not  only  the  quality  which  distinguishes  Textiles  above 
other  materials,  but  is  also  the  quality  which  distinguishes  Textiles 
from  one  another.  It  is  the  quality  which  distinguishes  a  damask  from 
a  brocade,  a  plain  weave  from  a  twill,  a  satin  from  a  madras,  a  velvet 
from  a  burlap,  a  domestic  carpet  from  an  Oriental  rug. 

For  a  descriptive  bibliography  of  the  most  useful  handbooks,  and 
the  most  valuable  reference  books,  I  refer  my  readers  to  Chapter  XXI. 

New  York,  June,  1918  G.  L.  H. 


EDITOR'S  NOTE 

Decorative  Teivtiles  is  the  first  in  a  series  of  authoritative  books 
on  the  modernised  house  furnishing  arts.  The  material  presented  in 
the  present  vohime  constituted,  for  the  most  part,  a  series  of  articles 
which  appeared  in  Good  Furniture  Magazine  diu'ing  the  years  191.5, 
191(5,  1917  and  1918. 

So  rapid  has  been  the  progress  in  many  departments  of  the 
textile  arts  in  America  since  the  war,  that  constant  additions  and 
revisions  have  been  necessary  in  the  present  volume,  especially  in  the 
chapters  on  Damasks,  Brocades  and  Velvets  and  on  Chintzes  and 
Cretonnes  and  Laces.  This  has  occasioned  the  introduction  of  more 
than  one  hundred  plates  not  originally  contemplated,  including  four 
colour  plates  of  great  importance,  showing  painted  cottons  from  India, 
recently  rediscovered  by  Stewart  Culin,  Curator  of  Ethnology,  of  the 
Brooklyn  Museum  of  Arts  and  Sciences. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  plates  no  expense  has  been  spared  to 
exhibit,  to  the  fullest  extent  possible  by  the  most  improved  printing 
and  engraving  processes,  the  dominant  quality  of  textiles,  viz.,  texture, 
of  which  the  author  treats  from  first  to  last.  The  textiles  illustrated 
have  been  assembled  from  many  sources.  Without  the  intimate 
contact  established  by  the  author  and  by  the  publishers  with  the  fore- 
most textile  markets  in  the  world  and  with  America's  wonderful 
textile  mills.  Decorative  Textiles  would  not  have  been  possible. 

The  editor  appreciates  the  warm  friendshijjs  which  his  collabora- 
tion in  this  work  has  won  him,  on  the  part  of  the  author  and  of  those 
in  the  textile  trades  whose  devotion  to  the  subject  is  so  fully  expressed 
in  the  solution  of  the  many  technical  difficulties,  which,  with  their 
generous  co-operation,  have  been  so  happily  overcome. 

Grand  Rapids,  September,  1918  Henry  W.  Frohne 


CONTENTS 

PACK 

I,     Damasks^  Bkocades  \nu  Velvets — Part  I 1 

II.     Damasks,  Brocades  and  Vela'ets — Part  II 18 

III.  Damasks,  Bkocades  and  Velvets — ^Part  111 32 

IV.  Fundamental  AND  MoDEKx  Weaves 54i 

V.    Laces 83 

VI.     Embroideries lOG 

VII.     Carpets  and  Rugs 139 

VIII.     Carpets  and  Rugs 157 

IX.     Chinese  AND  Bokhara  Rugs 174 

X.     Caucasian  and  Turkish  Rugs 186 

XI.     Persian  and  Indian  Rugs 203 

XII.     Tapestries  AND  Their  Imitations 227 

XIII.     Gothic  Tapestries 248 

XIV.     Renaissance  Tapestries 268 

XV.     Gobelins,  Beauvais^  Mortlake  Tapestries 284 

XVI.     Tapestry  Furniture  Coverings 30(5 

XVII.     Chintzes  and  Cretonnes 322 

XVIII.     Tooled  and  Illuminated  Leathers 416 

XIX.     Wall  Papers 358 

XX.     Drapery  and  Furniture  Trimmings 394 

XXI.     Working  Bibliography  of  Decorative  Textiles 438 

Index  and  Glossary 448 


LIST  OF  PLATES 

PAGE 

Damask  Made  in  America.    From  an  Old  Italian  Original:  Colour  Plate  Opposite  2 

Damask  Made  in  America,  Reproduction  of  Louis  XVI  Original 6 

Brocade  Made  in  America,  Reproduction  of  One  in  tlihe  Brussels  Museum 6 

American  Gold  Brocade  Based  on  an  Ancient  Sicilian  Fabric (i 

Broclie,  Made  in  America 6 

Silk  Damask  With  I>oom  Finish,  Made  in  America 10 

American  Reproduction  of  French  Damask 10 

Grosgrain  Damask,  Made  in  America 10 

Brocade  Made  in  America,  Reproduction  of  an  Original  in  the  Brussels  Museum  10 

Damask  Made  in  America,  Reproduction  of  an  Original  in  the  Brussels  Museum  121 

I^ouis  XVI  Brocade,  Made  in  America 12 

Large-Figured  Brocade,  Made  in  America 12 

Primitive  Coptic  Velvet '. 14 

Silk  Tapestry,  Made  in  America 14 

Damask  Made  in  America,  Reproduction  of  an  Original  in  the  Brussels  Museum  14 

New  Kind  of  Velvet,  Recently  Originated  and  Made  in  America 14 

Modern  Reproduction  of  English  Brocade 16 

A  Silk  Armure,  Adam  Style,  Made  in  America l6 

Brocade  Made  in  America,  Persian  Style 16 

Ancient  Genoese  Jardiniere  Velvet  in  Seven  Colours:  Colour  Plate  Opposite.  .  .  18 

Sassanid  Persian  "Doublet"  Patterns  in  the  Berlin  Museum 20 

Byzantine   "Doublet"    Patterns 20 

Byzantine  "Annunciation"  Design,  in  the  Vatican 24 

Byzantine  Design  From  the  Grave  of  Charlemagne,  in  the  Berlin  Museum 24 

Byzantine  "Quadriga"  Design  in  the  Cluny  Museum 24 

Baroque    Velvet    24 

Byzantine  "Eagle"  Design,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Eusebius  at  Auxerre 26 

Byzantine  "Double  Eagle"  Design,  in  the  Berlin  Museum 26 

Spanish  Thirteenth  Century  Pattern  With  Arabic  Lettering 26 

Louis   XVI    Velvet 28 

Italian   Renaissance    Damask 28 

Louis   XVI    Brocade 28 

Italian  Velvet  of  the  Early  Eighteenth  Century , 28 

Italian   Gothic   Cope:   Venetian   Velvet  of  the   Last   Quarter   of   the    Fifteenth 

Century,  With  Orphrey  Embroidered  in  Gold:  Colour  Plate  Opposite 33 

XIII 


LIST  OF  PLATES    (Continued) 

PAGE 

Fourteenth  Century  Italian  Patterns Si 

Cope  in  Persian  Sixteenth  Century  Brocaded  Velvet,  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  36 

Ancient  Persian  Velvet  in  the  ^Metropolitan  Museum 36 

Persian  Velvet  on  Satin  Ground,  Sixteenth  Century 40 

Fifteenth  Century  Venetian  Brocaded  Velvet  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum.  ...  40 

Italian  Renaissance  Damask 40 

Italian  Baroque  Damask  in  Silk  and  Linen 42 

German  Renaissance  Damask,  Gold  Taff'cta  Figures  on  Red  Satin  Ground 42 

Louis  XIII   Damask,  Modern   Reproduction 42 

Louis  XIV  Damask,   Modern   Reproduction 42 

Louis   XIV  Damask,  Modern   Reproduction 43 

Louis  XV  Damask,  Modern   Reproduction 43 

Louis  XV  Brocade,   Modern   Reproduction 43 

Italian  Rococo  Brocade,  Rich  With  Gold.     Modern  Reproduction 43 

Louis  XVI   Velvet.     Modern   Reproduction 44 

Louis  XVI  Brocade,  Rich  and  Elaborate  in  Many  Colours.    Modern  Reproduction  44 

Italian  Lampas  in  Five  Colours.     Modern  Reproduction 44 

Typical  French  Directoire  Lampas  in  Three  Colours.     Modern  Reproduction .  .  44 

Modern  American  Figured  Velvets  With  Changeable  Grounds 46 

Italian  Brocaded  Damask  of  the  Seventeenth  Centur\' 46 

Modern  American  Figured  Velvet :....- 46 

Modern  American   Figured  Velvets  With   Changeable  Grounds 50 

Modern  American  Figured  Velvets    50 — 51 

Upholstered  Furniture  in  the  Morgan  Collection  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum .  .  52 
Eighteenth  Century  Venetian  Carved  and  Painted  Chair,  Upholstered  in  Striped 

Satin:  Colour  Plate  Opposite 54 

Plain  Weaves:     Cotton  Etamine;  Jaspe  Cloth;  Crash;  Burlap 58 

Monk's  Cloth;  Basket  Weave;  Cotton  Rep;  Shikii  Rep 59 

Twill  and  Satin  Weaves :     Denim ;  Sateen ;  Satin  Derby ;  Striped  Denim 60 

Damask  Weaves :  Satin  Rep ;  Silk  Damask ;  Antique  Damask 62 

Damask  With  Paper  Gold  Figures  on  Cotton  Ground 64 

Cotton  Backed  Damask  With  Satin  and  Gold  Figure  on  Rep  Ground 65 

Silk  Damask  With  Filet  Lace  Stripes  in  Cotton 65 

Combination  Weaves:  "Striped  Antoinette" 66 

A  Combination  Weave ;  Satin  Rep  Stripe 66 

Cotton  Damask  With  Tapestry  Stripes 67 

Armure  and  Jacquard  Tapestry  Weaves 68 

Modern  American  Jacquard  Weaves 70 

Jacquard  Cotton  Tapestries  Woven  in   America 70 

Modern  American  Woven   Novelties 71 

Broche  and  Novelty  Weaves:     Silk,  Cotton  Broche;  Brocade;  Cotton  Taffeta.  .  72 

Gauze  and  Net  Weaves :     Grenadine ;  Coarse,  Striped,  Fancy,  Gauze  Net 74 

Old  Style  Derby 75 

New  Style  Derby 76 

Small-Figured   Derby    78 

XIV 


LIST  OF  PLATES    (Continued) 

PAGE 

Modern  Gold  Velvet  in  Sassanid  Design 78 

Modern  American    Jacquard    Weaves 80 

Modern  American  Woven   Novelties 81 

Ancient  Reticella  Lace  on  Drawn  Linen 84 

Punto  in  Aria  Needlework  Lace  After  it  Emancipated  Itself  From  the  Reticella  84 

Swiss  Brussels  Lace  Motifs  for  Curtains 86 

Broderie  Anglaise    (Pierced   Work) 86 

Cut  Work  Figure  of  a  Man 86 

Cliiny  Venise  Lace 87 

Italian  Filet  Figure  Panel  Lace 87 

Filet  Insertion  Lace 87 

Various  Types  of  Cluny  Lace 88 

Examples   of   Real   Ivaces 89 

Flanders  Lace  Panel 90 

Bruges  Lace  Panel 90 

Modern  Point  de  Venise  Curtain  Panel  Motif 92 

Door  Panel  Designs  of  Real   Lace 93 

A  Drop  Panel  for  Windows  Composed  of  Flanders  Point,  Italian  Filet,  English 

Cut- Work,   Mounted  on   French   Scrim 9* 

One  of  a  Pair  of  I^ace  Curtains  Designed  and  Made  in  America 94 

American  Real  Lace  Curtain  of  Austrian  Shade  Type 94 

Filet  Antique g6 

Machine  Cluny  Lace 96 

"Arabian"  Lace    96 

Schiffle  Lace  Motif 96 

Reticella  Needle  Lace 98 

Schiffle  Imitation   Reticella  Lace 98 

Cluny  Venise  Lace 98 

Russian    Drawn   Work 98 

Group  of  Modern   Fancy   Nets 100 

Machine-Made   Curtain    Nets 102 — 103 

Panel  Curtains  in  Assembled  Machine  Laces 104 

Ancient  Italian  Embroidery  in  Applique  Straw:  Colour  Plate  Opposite IO6 

Face  and  Back  of  the  Famous  Dalmatic  of  Charlemagne 108 

Two  Fragments  of  the  Most  Famous  Embroidery  in  the  World — The  So-called 

Bayeaux  Tapestry    110 

"John  the  Baptist,"  One  of  the  "Golden  Fleece"  Embroideries Ill 

Seventeentli  Century  Embroidered  Panel Ill 

Two  of  a  Set  of  Fifteenth  Century  Florentine  Embroideries:     "Birth  of  John 

the  Baptist,"  "Herodias  Receives  the  Head  of  John  the  Baptist" 112 

Renaissance  Couched  Embroidery 112 

English    Renaissance    Embroideries:       "The   Triumph   of    Protestanism,"    With 

Henry  VIII  on  the  Throne;  Philip  II  of  Spain  and  His  Wife,  Queen  Mary  113 

English  Crewel  Work  of  the  Seventeenth  Century 114 

English  Cushion  Cover  in  Crewels.     Modern  Reproduction 114 

XV 


LIST  OF  PLATES    (Continued) 

PAGE 

A  Sixteenth  Century  Spanish  Cope,  Witli  Elaborate  Gold-Embroidered  Orphrey    116 

Louis  XVI  Pictures  Embroidered  in  Chenille  and  Silk 116 

Ancient  English  Embroideries  P'or  Furniture  Covering 117 

Charles  II  Chairs  Upholstered  in  Petit  Point 118 

English  Bell  Pulls  in  the  Chinese  Chippendale  Style 119 

Petit  Point  Pillow  Top  With  Silver  Wire 119 

Chinese  Monogram  Designed  and  Embroidered  Witli  Bonnaz  Machine 119 

Bench  Cover  in  Petit  Point  on  Gros  Point,  English  Chinese  Style 120 

Charles  II  Sofa  Covered  With  Ancient  Petit  Point  Embroidery 120 

Woven    (Jacquard)    Reproductions  of  Needlework 122 

Fire  Screen  Panelled  in  Louis  XIV  Petit  Point  Embroidery 123 

Seventeenth   Century   Italian   Embroidered  Altar  Frontal 123 

Modern  Reproduction  of  Old  English  Needlework,  Ground  in  Gros  Point,  Per- 
sonages in  Petit  Point ]  24 

Seventeenth  Century  English  Stump  Work 125 

Furniture  Covering  Designed  and  Embroidered  by  an  Englishwoman 126 

Pillows  Embroidered  With  Wool 126 

Art  Embroideries  Made  in   America 128 

Spanish  Applique  Work  of  the  Sixteenth  Century 129 

Sixteenth  Century  Spanish  Chasuble 130 

Renaissance  Applique  Embroidery  on  Damask  Made  by  H;ind  in  America 130 

Mary  E.   Bulger's  Sampler 131 

Embroidery  From   India,  Ancient  Chumba  Work 132 

Decorated   Bulgarian    Scarf 132 

Sixteenth  Century  Embroidered  Persian  Cover,  Like  a  Rug  of  the  Period 131. 

A  Sind  Bag  With  Tinj'  Mirrors  Applique 134 

Chinese  Eighteenth  Century  Embroidery  Picturing  the  Emperor  Kien  Lung  and 

His  Empress  With  Their  Court 1 35 

Turkish  Embroidered  Cover 13g 

Turkish  Embroidery  of  the  Eighteenth  Centurj^ 136 

Persian  Embroidered  Rug  of  the  Nineteenth  Century I3g 

Late  Seventeenth  Century  Bed  Room  in  the  Brooklyn  Museum,  With   Embroid- 
ered Draperies  of  the  Period 137 

Sample  of  Modern   French   Savonnerie  to  Show   Colour,   Design   and   Texture: 

Colour   Plate    Opposite 1 40 

Savonnerie  Rug  of  the  Seventeenth  Century 1 ,1,2 

Savonnerie  Screen  Panels  of  the  Seventeenth  Century 144, 

Louis  XV  Tapestry  Rug  of  Irregular  Shape,  Made  in  America 146 

Renaissance  Tapestry  Rug  With  Byzantine  Field,  Made  in  America 148 

Full  Size  Section  of  a  Tapestry  Rug.  Nine  Ribs  to  the  Inch 143 

Eighteenth   Century  Spanish   Tapestry   Rug 150 

Oval  Hand-Tufted  Rug  Made  in  America jgj 

Modern  Aubusson  Tapestry  Rug  Designed  in  America 152 

Sections  of  Modern  Italian  Renaissance  and  Louis  XIV  Savonnerie  Rugs 152 

Dining  Room  at  Mt.  Vernon,  Virginia,  Aubusson  Tapestry  Rug  on   Floor 154 

XVI 


LIST  OF  PLATES   (Continued) 

PAGK 

Section  of  American-Made  Chenille  Axniinster  Rug:  Colour  Plate  Opposite.  .  .  158 

The  Process  of  Making  Chenille  Rugs l62 

Chenille  Axniinster    Made   in   America Ifit 

American  Chenille  Axniinster,  Plain  Centre  With  Elizabethan   Border l64 

Old-Fashioned  Ingrain  Carpeting \(Ui 

Velvet  Carpeting  Made  in   New   York 166 

Tapestry  Carpeting  Made  in  New  York 1 66 

Spool  Axminster  Picture  Rug  Made  in  New  York 168 

Spool  Axminster  Carpeting  Made  in  New  York 168 

American  Chenille  Axminster  Rug,  Mottled  Field  With  Plain  Stripe  Border.  ..  170 

Wilton  Carpeting  Made  in   Massachusetts 170 

Brussels  Carpeting  Made  in  Massachusetts 170 

Fereghan  Rug  Made  in  Massachusetts,  With  Machine-Tied  Sehna  Knot 172 

Large  Spanish   Renaissance   Embroidered    Rug 172 

('hinese  Rug  of  tlie  Kien-Luug  Dynasty 176 

Emblems  of  the  Literati 178 

The   Eight  Ordinary   Symbols 178 

Emblems  of  the  Eight   Immortals 178 

Eight  Buddhist  Emblems 178 

Ciiinese   Rug  of  the   Kang-hi   Dynasty,  With  the  Symbols  of  the   Literati....  180 

Chinese  Rug  of  the   Kang-hi   Dynasty 180 

Chinese  Rugs  of  the  Kien-lung  Dynasty 181 

Chinese  Rug  of  the  Ming  Dynasty 182 

Saniarcand   Rug    1 82 

Royal   Bokhara   Rug 184 

Princess   Bokhara   Rug 1 84 

Pinde   Bokhara    Rug 184 

Tekke  Bokhara   Rug 184 

Yonnid   Bokhara   Rug 184 

An  Especially  Fine  Ladik  Rug:  Colour  Plate  Oi)])osite 186 

Kazak   Rug 188 

Guenje   Rug    1 88 

Daghestan  Rug   1 90 

Shirvan    Rug 1 92 

Chichi  Rug 1 94 

Baku  Rug 194 

Cabistan  Rug 1 96 

F^ighteenth  Century  Caucasian   Rug 196 

Lesghian  Rug 1 96 

Cashmere   Rug    198 

Ghiordes   Prayer   Rugs 200 

Portrait  of  George  Gyze  Showing  a  Turkish  Rug  With  Cufic  Border 201 

Two  Types  of  Kulah  Rug 201 

Persian  Prayer  Rug  of  the  Sixteenth  Century :  Colour  Plate  Opposite 204p 

Persian  Rug  of  the  Sixteenth  Centur}- 206 

XVII 


LIST  OF  PLATES    (Continued) 

PAGE 

Ancient  Ispahan  Rug,  Showing  Chinese  Cloud  Bands 207 

Persian  Rug  of  the  Seventeenth  Century 207 

An  Extraordinary  Large  Karadagh  Rug:  Colour  Plate  Opposite 208 

Ardebil  Animal  Rug 210 

A  Sixteenth  Century  Persian  Rug 212 

A  Sixteenth  Century  Persian  Silk  Rug 212 

Portion  of  a  Sixteenth  Century  Persian  Rug,  Showing  "Worn  Down"  Texture.  .  214 

Early  Sixteenth  Century  Persian  Rug  of  "Compartment"  Design 215 

Sixteenth  Century  Persian  Prayer  Rug,  With  Arabic  Inscriptions 215 

Typical  Sehna  Rug,  With  Herati  Motif  in  Border  and  Field 2l6 

Typical  Serebend  Rug,  With  "Pear"  Field  and  Border  of  Many  Stripes 2l6 

Small  Fereghan  Rug 218 

Part  of  a  Long  Hamadan  Rug 218 

One  of  Many  Types  of  Mosul  Rug 219 

Superb  Saruk  Rug,  With  "Tree  of  Life"  Design 219 

Rich  and  Intricately  Patterned  All-Silk  Kashan  Rug 220 

Typical  Modern  Kirman   Rug 220 

Ancient  "Flower  Garden"   Kirman   Rug 222 

Small   Tabriz    Rug 222 

Khorassan    Rug   With   "Vase"    Design 224 

Quaint  and  Curious  Shiraz  Rug 224 

The  Great  Ardebil  Rug  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum 225 

Persian  Early  Seventeenth  Century  Rug 225 

Jacquard  Tapestry  Panel:  Colour  Plate  Opposite 228 

Primitive  Coptic  Tapestry  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum 230 

Ancient  Peruvian  Tapestries  and  Tapestry  Figured  Fabrics 232 

Verdure  With  Landscape  and  Birds.     A  Modern  Aubusson  Tapestry 234 

Verdure  With  Border.     Hand- Woven  "Double  Warp"  Imitation  Tapestry 234 

"The  Birth  of  Bacchus."  An  Aubusson  Tapestry  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  .  236 
Aubusson  Tapestries  of  the  Eighteenth  Century:     "The  Strife  of  Agamemnon 

and  Achilles;"  "The  Transformation  of  Jupiter" 238 

Merton  Tapestry:     "Two  Angles  With  Harps" 240 

Boucher  Medallion  on  Damask  Ground 240 

Tapestry  Designed  by  Albert  Herter  and  Woven  in  America 241 

Jacquard  Tapestry  Woven  in  America 242 

Tapestry  Screen  Panels  Woven   in   Xew  York 243 

Four  Eighteenth  Century  Spanish  Tapestries 244 

"Don  Quixote  Knigiited."    Spanish  Tapestry  Designed  by  Procaccini  and  Woven 

by  Vandergoten's  Sons \ 246 

David  and  Bathslieba  Tapestry.     Part  of  the   Famous   Late  Gothic   "Story   of 

David,"  in  the  Cluny  Museum,  Paris:  Colour  Plate  Opposite 248 

Gothic  Tapestries:     "Titus,"  Part  of  a  Fifteenth  Century  Gothic  Tapestry  in 

the  Metropolitan  Museum;  a  Gothic  "Mille-Fleur,"  Witli  Animals 250 

"The  Redemption  of  Man,"  a  Late  Gothic  Tapestry  Rich  With  Gold 252 

XVIII 


LIST  OF  PLATES    (Continued) 

PAGfc 

"The  Son   of  Man,"   a   Fourteenth   Century   Gotliic   Tapestry   of   the   Famous 

Apocalypse  Set  at  Angers,  France 252 

Lower  Right  Corner  of  "The  Redemption  of  Man,"  Picturing  Moses  With  the 

Twelve  Commandments    253 

"The  Prophecy  of  Nathan,"  a  Magnificent  Late  Gothic  Tapestry 2r)4 

One  of  the  P"amous  Four  Hardwickc  Hall  Hunting  Tapestries 256 

"The  Wood-Cutters,"  a  Famous  Late  Gothic  Tapestry  in  the  Musee  des  Arts 

Decoratif s  in  Paris 256 

Gothic  Hunting  Tapestry  in  the  Minneapolis  Museum  of  Fine  Arts 257 

Part  of  the  "St.  Peter"  Series  Given  to  the  Beauvais  Cathedral  in  1460 258 

"Joseph  Presenting  Jacob  to  Pharaoh."  A  Fifteenth  Century  Gothic  Tapestry  258 
"The  Crucifixion,  Last  Supjjcr  and  Resurrection."     A  Fifteenth  Century  Gothic 

Tapestry  in  the  Chicago  Art  Institute 260 

Gotliic  "Credo"  Tapestry  in  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts 260 

"The  Triumph  of  the  Virgin,"  Gothic  Tapestry  in  the  Royal  Spanish  Collection  262 

"The  Adoration  of  the  Magi,"  Late  German  Gothic  Tapestry 264 

"The  Massacre  of  the  Innocents."      Formerly   in  the   Hoentschel  and   Morgan 

Collections    264 

"The  Court  of  Love."  Late  Gothic  Taj)estry  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum ....  266 
"The  Head  of  Cyrus."  Flemish  Renaissance  Tapestry:  Colour  Plate  Opposite  268 
"The  Blinding  of  Elymas."     One  of  the  Famous  "Acts  of  the  Apostles"  Series, 

Designed  by  Raphael,  and  Now  in  the  Royal  Spanish  Collection 270 

"Saint  Paul  Before  Agrippa  and  Berenice."     Early   Renaissance  Tapestry  in 

the  Royal  Spanish  Collection 272 

"Joseph  Sold  by  His  Brethren."    A  Renaissance  Tapestry  in  the  Foulke  Collec- 
tion      272 

"Artemisia  Brings  Aid  to  Cyrus,  Who  Has  Bridged  and  is  About  to  Cross  the 
Hellespont."     Renaissance  Tapestry,  One  of  a   Set  in  the  Royal  Spanish 

Collection 274 

"A  Concert  in  the  Open."  Early  Renaissance  Tapestry  Designed  by  van  Orley  276 
"Our  Lady  of  Sablon."  An  Early  Renaissance  Tapestry  in  the  Brussels  Museum  278 
The   Dollfus   Crucifixion.      An    Early   Renaissance   Tapestry    Rich   With   Gold, 

Designed  by  Bernard  van  Orley  and  Now  Owned  by  Mrs.  Widener 278 

One  of  the  "Hunts  of  Maximilian,"  a  Series  of  Twelve  Tapestries  Designed  by 

Bernard  van  Orley  Now  in  the  Louvre 280 

"Hercules  Kills  the  Dragon  of  the  Hesperides."     One  of  a  Set  of  Renaissance 

Tapestries  in  the  Imperial  Austrian  Collection 280 

"Children  Playing."     Renaissance  Tapestry  After  Giulio  Romano 280 

"The  Triumph  of  Venus.",    Renaissance  "Grotesque"  Tapestry  in  the  French 

National  Collection  . . '. 281 

"Marsyas  Flayed  by  Apollo."     Renaissance  Tapestry  in  the  Royal  Spanish  Col- 
lection        281 

"The  Creation  of  Eve."     Renaissance  Tapestry.     One  of  a  Set  in  the  Tapestry 

Gallery  at  Florence 281 

"David  Dancing  Before  the  Ark."     P'lemish  Renaissance  Tapestry 282 

XIX 


LIST  OF  PLATES    (Continued) 

PAGE 

Beauvais  Tapestry  Designed  by  Berain:  Colour  Plate  Opposite 284 

"Diana  Imploring  Jupiter."  Early  Gobelin  Tapestry  Designed  by  Dubreuil..  286 
"Alexander   Entering   Babylon."      Eouis   XIV   Gobelin    Tapestry    Designed    by 

Lebrun 288 

"Winter."     Louis  XIV  Gobelin  Tapestry  Designed  by  Mignard 2f)0 

"Dido  and  ^Eneas."     Louis  XIV  Tapestry  Designed  by  Antoine  Coypel 292 

"The  Toilet  of  Esther."     Louis  XV  Gobelin  Tapestry  Designed  by  De  Troy.  .  29'i 

"The  Farm."     Beauvais  Tapestry  Designed  by  Huet 296 

The  "Parnassus"   Tapestry  in  the   New  York   Public   Library.     A   Louis   XIV 

Brussels  Woven  by  Judoeus  de  Vos 296 

"Le  Depit  Amoureux."     Beauvais  Tapestry  Designed  by  Oudry 298 

"Fishing."     Beauvais  Tapestrj-  Designed  by  Boucher 300 

Folding  Screen  Panelled  With  Beauvais-Boucher  Tapestries 302 

"The   Healing  of  the   Paralytic."      Mortlake   Tapestry    Designed   by    Raphael, 

Wit])  Seventeenth  Century  Border 30't 

Tapestry  Chair  Back,  Rich  with  Gold,  Made  in  America :  Colour  Plate  Oi)posite  306 

Sofa  and  Cushion  Covered  With  Ancient  Flemish  Verdure  Tapestry 308 

Mille-Fleur  Tapestry  Coverings,  Made  in  America 308 

Inexpensive  Tapestry  Chair  Seat,  Made  in  America:  Colour  Plate  Opposite.  ...  310 
Tapestry  Chair  Seat,  Old  English  Needlework  Style,  Made  in  America:  Colour 

Plate  Opposite 310 

Tapestry  Coverings  Made  in  England  Last  Half  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  .  312 

Tapestry  Coverings  for  Seat,  ]?aek  and  Arm  of  Sofa.     Made  at  Aubusson 312 

Louis  XV  Ancient  Tapestry  Coverings,  Made  at  Aubusson 31  1 

Louis  XV  Tapestry-Covered  Chair  in  the  Metropolitan   Museum ,Sl6 

Louis  XVI  Ancient  Tapestry  Coverings,  .NL-ide  at  Aubusson 31 6 

Tliomas  Thierry  Tapestry  Coverings,  Made  at  Aubusson 316 

Screen  Panelled  With  Ancient  Brussels  Renaissance  Tapestry 318 

Mille-Fleur  Tapestry  Coverings,  Made  in  America 320 

Modern  Sofa  Covered  With  Tapestry  Made  in  America 320 

Palampores  or  Hand-Painted  Cottons  of  the  Seventeenth  Century  From  India, 

Showing  the  Tree  of  Life  Inside  the  Mirab  or  Prayer  Niche:  Colour  Plates 

Opposite   322,  324 

Gotliie    Antependium    (Altar    Frontal)    Printed    in    Black    From    Nine    Blocks, 

Showing  Christ,  Saint  Barbara,  Saint  George,  Mary  and  John,  With  Gothic 

Inscription  and  Ornamental  Border.     Tyrolian  of  the  Fifteenth  Century .  .  326 

Cotton  Prints  of  the  Sixth  Century  A.  D.  From  Achmim,  in  Egypt 326 

Thirteenth  or  Fourteenth  Century  Printed  Linen  in  Black  From  Cologne 327 

Romanesque,  Twelfth  or  Thirteenth  Century,  Printed  in  Silver  on  Blue  Linen. 

From  the  Lower  Rhine 327 

Gothic  Wall  Hanging  Printed  in  Three  Colours.    French-Flemish  of  the  Ffteenth 

Century    327 

Fourteenth  Century  Italian  Wall  Hanging  in  Black  and  Red  on  Linen 328 

Rhenish  Print  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  in  Black  on  White  Linen 328 

Seventeenth  Century  German  Chalice  Cover  Printed  in  Black  on  White  Linen.  .  328 
XX 


LIST  OF  PLATES    (Continued) 

I'AOE 

Eighteenth  Century  Persian  Painted  Panel  on  Linen 329 

Hand-Painted  Cottons  of  the  Seventeentli  Century  From  India,  Parts  of  a  \\'all 

Covering  Consisting  of  a  Series  of  Seven  Panels  Measuring  23  Feet  Wide 

by  8  Feet  High:  Colour  Plates  Opposite 330,  332 

Ancient  Portuguese  Block   Prints 334 

"Les  Colombes"  (The  Doves).     An  Ancient  Jouy  Copper-Plate  Print  in  Brown 

on  Linen,  Showing  Oberkanipf's  Signature 336 

Jouy    Copper   Print   in   Red,   Made   About    1785,   and    Signed,    "Manufacture 

Royale  de  S.  M.  P.  Oberkainpf,"  Picturing  Oberkanipf's  Factory,  Together 

With  the  Process  of  Plate  and  Roller  Printing 338 

A  Jouy  Print,  "The  United  States  Received  Among  the  Nations" 338 

Three  Huet  Designs   For  Jouy  Prints 339 

"Tlie    Four   Seasons."      From    a    Copper    Plate    Engraving    of    One    of    Huet's 

Designs  For  Jouj'  Prints 340 

An  Ancient  Chintz  Illustrating  The  Declaration  of  Independence 341 

Patriotic   Prints    342 

Late  Eighteenth   Century    Prints    Made   in   France   Depicting  the   Triumph   of 

Washington,  and  Probably  Made  for  the  American  Market 344 

An  Ancient  Printed  Cloth  Showing  General  Lafayette  on  the  Left,  in  1790;  on 

the  Right,  in  1 830 345 

An  Ancient  Print,  the  So-Called  "Toile  de  la  Bastile" 346 

Ancient  Printed  Cloths 348 

"Pheasant   and   Larch."      Originated   in   America   and   Printed    in    England   on 

Linen,  From  Wooden  Blocks 349 

Modern  Block  Prints,  Printed  in  P^ngland  But  Originated  in  America 349 

Block  Print  Designs  by  William  Morris 350,  352 

Modern  Satin,  Printed  in  Bright  Colours  From  Ancient  Copper  Plates ........   353 

Modern  Chintz  on  Linen,  Printed  From  the  Ancient  Blocks 353 

Four  Modern  American   Silk  Prints 354 

Cotton  Cloth  on  Which  American  Makers  Print  With  Copper  Rollers 355 

Eight  Cretonne  Patterns  Just  Brought  Out  by  an  American  Maker 356 

"The  Origin  of  Wall  Paper."     A  Chinese  Painting  in  the  Style  of  Kien-lung, 

Picturing   the   Taoist    Fairy,   Mo-ku-lisien,   With    Attendant    Deer:    Colour 

Plate  Opposite    358 

Wall  Paper  Painted  in  China  and  Now  on  the  Walls  of  the  Cadwalader  Room  • 

in  the  Metropolitan  Museum 360 

Famous  Picture  Wall  Papers:     A  Teniers  Tapestry  in  Paper;  "Psyche  at  the 

Bath,"  Designed  by  David  for  Napoleon 362 

"The  Chinese  Garden."     A  Hand-Blocked  Landscape  Paper,  Made  in  Alsace 

About  1840,  After  Designs  by  French   Artists:  Colour  Plate  Opposite.  .  .  .    364 

Three  Hand-Blocked  Alsatian   Papers 3GG 

Modern  Machine-Printed  Zuber  Papers 367 

Modern  Machine-Printed  Zuber  Papers  in  the  Chinese  Style 368 

Hand-Blocked  Paper  in  the  Adam  Style,  Designed  in  England,  Made  in  Alsace  370 
Six  Wall  Papers  Made  in  France 372 

xxr 


LIST  OF  PLATES    (Continued) 

PAGE 

Walter  Crane's  "Macaw":     Colour  Plate  Opposite 374 

The  Boscoreale  Frescoes  From  Pompeii  as  Set  up  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  376 

Famous  Papers  by  William  Morris 378,  379 

Famous  Papers  by  Walter  Crane:     Colour  Plates  Opposite 380 

An  Ancient  Paper  From  Salem,  Massachusetts 382 

The  Jumel   Mansion   Paper SSdi 

An  American   Hand-Blocked  Paper 386 

American   Wall   Papers   Imitating  Textiles 388 

American  Wall  Papers   Imitating  Leather    389 

American  Wall  Paper   Patterns   390 

Modern   Patriotic  Wall   Papers 392 

Fringes   de   Luxe 395 

Tassels 396 

Velvet    Figured    Gimps 398 

Velvet  Figured  Borders 399 

Openwork  Gimps    400 

Tassel   Edgings    402 

Bullion   Fringes    403 

Cut   Fringes    404 

Tassels   Triumphant   406 

Fringes   Rampant    410 

Fringes   From  the  Morant  Collection 412 

Bedrooms  in  the  Residence  of  James  Deering,  at  Miami,  Florida 414 

Ancient  Italian  Leather  From  the  House  of  Titian:  Colour  Plate  Opposite.  .  .  .  416 

Georgian  Leather  With  Red  Flock  Ground:  Colour  Plate  Opposite 418 

Ancient  Portuguese  Chair-Back  in  Chiselled  Leather,  Showing  the  Tree  Design 

With   "Doublet"   Lions    420 

Eighteenth  Century  Spanish  Leather  Panel  in  Gold  and  Blue  on  Green 420 

Ancient  Spanish  Leather  Showing  Large  Pomegranates  Framed  in  Zigzag  Halo  422 
Twisted  Column  With  Capital  in  Ancient  Italian  Tooled  and  Illuminated  Leather 

of  the  Sixteenth  Century:  Colour  Plate  Opposite 424 

An  Antique  Chinese  Georgian  Screen 426 

Illuminated  Leather  of  the  French  Regence 426 

Ancient  Spanish  Picture  Panels  on  Leather,  P'rom  Avignon 428 

Louis  XVI  Leather  Screen  Now  at  Biltmore 429 

Portfolio  in  Gold  Leaf  Design,  From  the  Back  of  an  Italian  Cardinal's  Chair.  .  432 

Edgings  for  Bookcases  and  Tables 434 

Modern   Leather  Screen   in   Persian   Design   436 

Modern  Leather  Screen  in  Louis   XV   Design ■ 436 


XXII 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

CHAPTER  I 

DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

PART  I 

Damasks,  brocades  and  velvets  are  the  aristocrats  among  shuttle 
fabrics  made  for  the  decoration  of  walls  and  furniture.  Primarily 
they  are  silk  weaves,  though  often  enriched  with  gold  or  cheapened 
with  linen  and  cotton. 

The  history  of  damasks,  brocades  and  velvets  is  the  history  of 
ornament  in  silk.  When  the  less  expensive  materials  are  employed, 
they  are  usually  hidden  beneath  the  surface,  except  in  linen  damasks 
(Plate  B  4  of  Chapter  IV),  that  on  account  of  their  brilliant  sheen 
and  immaculate  whiteness  (and  also  because  they  can  be  washed) 
have  won  the  kingdom  of  napkins  and  tablecloths  for  their  own,  and 
also  except  in  woollen  damasks  and  mohair  velvets  and  flax  velours, 
that  attempt  in  weight  and  strength  to  make  up  for  what  they  lack  in 
essential  beauty.  Cotton  brocades,  with  or  without  the  mixture  of 
mercerised,  are,  of  course,  mere  imitations,  that  by  their  very  exist- 
ence glorify  the  superior  virtues  of  what  they  imitate. 

As  everyone  interested  in  decorative  art  is  aware,  the  terminology 
of  textiles  is  in  a  particularly  unsatisfactory  condition.  Dictionaries 
and  encyclopaedias  in  all  languages  are  filled  with  definitions  that  were 
evidently  composed  by  editors  far  from  a  knowledge  of  the  actual 
facts.  One  justly  famous  dictionary  in  the  English  language  defines 
tapestry  as  "not  made  with  a  shuttle  like  other  textiles,  but  with  a 
needle."  Evidently  the  editor  was  translating  from  the  French  and 
mistook  broche  for  needle  instead  of  bobbin. 

Another  famous  dictionary  also  published  in  America  defines 
damask  as  "a  rich  silk  fabric  woven  in  elaborate  patterns  having  a 
raised  appearance."  Certainly  this  is  misleading.  The  distinctive 
characteristic  of  damasks  as  compared  with  brocades  is  flatness. 
Fiu-thermore,  damask  as  compared  with  brocade  patterns  are  simple. 

1 


DECORATIVE   TEXTILES 

Even  the  great  textile  authorities,  while  agreeing  on  funda- 
mentals, differ  seriously  in  their  definitions  of  terms  like  hrocatelle 
and  lampas.  Even  oiu*  great  museums  attach  lahels  that  are  often 
misleading  and  sometimes  false.  And  as  for  the  trade,  it  seems  to 
be  the  ambition  of  many  manufacturers  and  importers  to  demon- 
strate the  distinctiveness  of  their  goods  by  means  of  the  false  dis- 
tinctiveness of  the  terms  they  employ. 

DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE   LOOM 

Tapestries  and  their  imitations  I  define  and  describe  in  Chapter 
XII.  Of  real  tapestries  I  say  that  "they  are  ribbed  or  rep  fabrics 
with  surface  consisting  entirely  of  tceft  threads."  Between  real 
tapestries  and  the  weaves  that  I  am  now  discussing,  the  difference  is 
fundamental.  The  surface  of  damasks,  brocades  and  warp  velvets 
consists  largely  of  SXY//7;  threads.  Moreover,  these  are  not  bobbiji 
fabrics  like  real  tapestries,  but  shuttle  fabrics  in  which  the  lessened 
control  of  the  weft,  caused  by  the  substitution  of  shuttle  for  bobbin, 
is  made  up  for  by  increased  ability  to  control  and  manipulate  the 
warp.     (See  second  paragrai^h  of  Chapter  VIII.) 

The  first  great  step  in  the  mechanical  development  of  the  loom 
was  the  invention  of  treadles  that  freed  the  left  hand  from  the  duty 
of  pulling  leashes  (lisses)  to  form  each  new  shed  of  the  warp. 

The  second  great  step  was  the  invention  of  the  shuttle  to  facil- 
itate the  passing  of  the  bobbin  through  the  shed. 

The  tJiird  great  step  was  the  substitution  for  treadles  of  a  draw 
boy  (hence  the  term  draw  loom)  who  was  mounted  on  a  platform 
above  the  warp,  where  he  pulled  cords  or  leashes  that  raised  or  lowered 
the  warp  threads  as  the  pattern  required,  vastly  increasing  the  pos- 
sible complexities  of  weave.  The  draw  loom,  invented  and  devel- 
oped by  the  Chinese  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  weaving  the  exquisitely 
fine  threads  of  silk,  first  made  possible  and  practicable  the  production 
of  damasks,  brocades  and  Aelvets. 

The  fourth  great  step  was  the  invention  of  the  Jacquard  attach- 
ment in  the  time  of  Napoleon.  This  attachment  was  merely  a 
mechanical  contrivance,  but  it  supplanted  the  draw  boy,  just  as  the 
draw  boy  had  supplanted  treadles,  and  just  as  treadles  had  sup- 
planted the  weaver's  left  hand.  It  vastly  increased  the  speed  and 
accuracy  of  weaving,  and  so  lessened  the  cost  of  producing  intricate 
patterns  that  ever  since  then  intricate  patterns  have  been  available 
2 


Plate  I— i:)AMASK  MADE  IX  AMKUICA 

From  an  old  Italian  orijrinal 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

for  the  least  expensive  purposes,  provided  the  quantity  used  is  suf- 
ficiently large.  Once  the  pattern  is  punched  on  a  series  of  Jacquard 
cards,  and  the  loom  is  mounted,  it  is  just  like  playing  a  pianola  or 
working  a  hand  organ.  Repetition  is  easy  and  costs  little.  Diligence 
is  more  important  than  intelligence,  and  the  weaver  need  not  have 
the  slightest  art  knowledge  or  feeling. 

The  fifth  great  step  was  the  application  of  power  (water,  steam 
or  electricity)  to  do  the  work  of  both  draw  boy  and  weaver.  This 
greatly  increased  speed,  while  relieving  the  weaver  of  most  of  his 
manual  labour,  and  setting  him  free  to  superintend  the  operation  of 
several  looms.  However,  the  more  complicated  and  exquisite  velvets 
and  brocades  continue  to  be  woven  on  liand  looms,  but  with  the 
Jacquard  attachment. 

THE  WEAVE  OF  DAMASKS 

The  fundamental  and  modern  weaves  I  shall  analyse  and  illus- 
trate in  Chapter  IV.  Suffice  it  here  to  say  that  damask  is  a  satin 
weave  (Plates  I,  II,  III,  D,  of  Chapter  IV)  sometimes  with  taffeta  or 
grosgrain  or  twill  or  weft  satin  figures  on  warp  satin  ground;  some- 
times with  warp  satin  figures  on  ground  of  contrasting  weave.  The 
basis  of  damask  is  satin  with  a  surface  that  consists  of  parallel  threads, 
whose  parallelism  causes  the  smooth  shiny  surface  that  is  character- 
istic of  satin,  and  that  makes  satin  the  weave  most  characteristic 
of  silk. 

For  example,  the  damask  illustrated  on  Plate  VI  has  grosgrain 
figures  on  a  satin  ground.  This  means  that  the  ground  consists  of 
parallel  threads  running  the  way  of  the  warp,  while  the  figures  show- 
ribs  that  are  perpendicular  to  the  surface  threads  of  the  ground,  and 
hence  contrast  strongly  with  it,  producing  the  light  and  shade  effects 
that  are  characteristic  of  damask,  and  that  distinguish  it  from  most 
other  fabrics,  although  not,  of  course,  altogether  from  the  novelty 
weaves  that  imitate  it.  What  I  wish  most  of  all  to  make  clear  at 
this  point  is  that  damask  is  not  an  accident,  nor  a  chance  term  the 
application  of  which  can  be  left  to  the  whim  of  manufacturers  or 
dealers.  Damask  is  a  figured  fabric  with  the  lines  of  the  ground 
running  in  one  direction  while  the  lines  of  the  figures  run  in  another. 

When  the  surface  is  a  twill,  we  have  diagonal  line  effects  or  ribs 
that,  of  course,  make  a  Weaker  contrast  than  woidd  the  ribs  of  gros- 
grain.    For  example,  flie  figures  of  brocatelle  are  in  satin,  and  the 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

ground  is  a  twill,  the  figures  rising  in  bold  relief  because  of  the  coarse 
linen  or  cotton  weft  threads  that  are  buried  beneath  the  surface.  The 
easiest  damasks  to  analyse  are  those  made  for  the  table  in  white  linen 
and  imitation  in  cotton  because  in  them  the  effect  of  the  contrasting 
threads  of  ground  and  figures  is  not  complicated  by  colours  as  in 
lampas,  the  ground  of  which  is  in  one  colour  and  the  figures  in 
another;  or,  in  one-colour  silk  damask  (Plate  D  2  of  Chapter  IV) 
where  the  contrasting  lines  produce  a  difference  in  tone  between 
figures  and  ground,  though  the  threads  of  both  are  actually  of  the 
same  tone. 

Moreover,  in  all  the  damasks,  coloured  lampas  as  well  as  white 
linens,  the  tones  change  as  the  point  of  vision  changes.  Figures  that 
look  mat  from  one  point  of  view  become  glossy  from  another,  while 
the  ground  is  transformed  in  the  opposite  direction.  It  is  this  fas- 
cinating interplay  of  tones  due  to  the  contrasting  surface  of  parallel 
lines  in  relief,  which  constitutes  the  character  and  charm  of  damask. 

THE  WKAVE  OF  BROCADES 

Brocade  (Plate  G2  of  Chapter  IV)  might  be  described  as 
embroidery  made  on  the  loom.  It  consists  of  embroidery  effects  pro- 
duced by  floating  wefts  on  the  surface  of  damask  or  other  weaves. 
Some  of  the  most  magnificent  Renaissance  tapestries  woven  in 
Brussels  in  the  sixteenth  century,  have  brocaded  effects  produced  on 
the  garments  of  personages  by  floating  wefts  in  groups  over  several 
warps,  with  the  relief  heightened  by  couching.  While  the  figures  of 
damask  tend  to  be  flat  and  large  and  continuous  and  of  the  same  colour 
though  different  in  tone  from  the  ground,  the  figures  of  brocade  tend 
to  be  in  relief  and  small  and  detached,  and  in  several  colours. 

In  other  words,  the  figui-es  of  brocades  are  such  as  would  be 
usually  produced  on  a  draw  loom  by  the  use  of  extra  bobbins 
(croches);  hence,  brocade  that  is  English  for  the  Spanish  form  of 
the  French  broche  (brocaded).  AVhile  broche  really  means  the  same 
as  brocade,  it  is  commonly  applied  to  light-weight  silks  only,  the  term 
brocade  (French  brocari)  being  reserved  for  bi-ocaded  damasks  and 
other  heavy  silks  of  elaborate  design. 

THE  WEAVE  OF  VELVETS 

Of  velvets  there  are  two  fundamentally  different  types,  those 
with  pile  formed  by  extra  wefts  and  those  with  pile  formed  by  extra 

5 


Plate   II — Diiiiiask   made  in   America,   re])ro(Uution   of  a 
Louis  XVI  original 


Plate   III — IJroohe  silk,  made  in    Americj 


Plate    IV — American   gold   brocade   based   on   ;in   ancient  Plate  V — Brocade  made  in  America,  reproduction  of  one 

Sicilian  fal)ric  in   Brussels  Museum 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

warps.  The  former,  like  real  tapestries,  originated  on  the  bobbin 
loom,  while  the  latter,  like  damasks  and  hrocades,  originated  on  the 
shuttle  loom.  Furthermore,  just  as  real  tapestries  are  vastly  more 
ancient  in  their  origin  than  damasks  and  brocades,  so  weft  velvets 
are  much  older  than  icarp  velvets,  and  we  have  examples  of  them 
dating  as  far  back  as  the  third  century  A.  D.  1  refer  to  the  Coptic 
fabrics  with  coarse  uncut  pile  of  wool  and  linen.  The  surface  is  very 
open,  the  rows  of  lo()j)s  being  far  apart  with  plain  canvas  between. 
The  loops  consist  of  weft  threads  that  go  over  and  under  alternate 
pairs  of  warps.  Many  of  the  linen  loops  are  particularly  long  and 
shaggy;  all  of  the  woollen  loops,  short  and  thick  and  soft.  These 
Coptic  velvets  I  regard  as  the  primitive  form,  not  only  of  weft  velvets, 
but  also  of  hand-knotted  rugs.  The  step  from  a  weft  that  loops  up 
between  alternate  jjairs  of  warps,  to  short  pieces  of  weft  that  are 
knotted  around  each  pair  of  warps  is  direct  and  obvious.  The  so- 
called  "finger  rugs"  still  made  in  London  and  elsewhere  are  a  sur- 
vival of  the  ancient  pile  fabrics  of  the  Coptic  velvet  variety,  and  get 
their  name  primarily  from  the  fact  that  the  finger  is  used  in  forming 
the  loops. 

One  of  these  ancient  Coptic  velvets  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum, 
dating  from  the  fourth  or  fifth  century  after  Christ,  is  illustrated 
on  Plate  XIV.  The  dark  parts  are  in  wool,  the  light  parts  in 
linen.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  rows  of  long  linen  loops  are  twice 
as  far  apart  as  the  rows  of  short  woollen  and  short  linen  loops,  and 
that  the  figm-es  are  formed  by  contrast  of  dark-brown  wool  and  cream- 
white  linen.  Notice  also  that  where  the  pile  wefts  pass,  the  canvas 
is  corded  with  three  extra  flat  wefts  in  order  that  the  loops  may  be 
firndy  held.  Modern  examples  of  weft  velvet  with  cut  pile  are 
velveteens  and  corduroys. 

However,  ordinarily  by  velvets  we  mean  warp  velvets  of  the 
kind  originated  in  silk,  and  do  not  even  include  the  coai'se  woollen 
and  worsted  velvets  woven  for  floor  coverings,  such  as  brussels  and 
wilton  carpets  and  rugs.  L^pholstery  velvets  are  usually  called 
velours  (the  French  word  for  velvet),  whether  the  pile  be  in  silk  or 
flax  or  wool  or  cotton.  The  pile  of  most  warp  velvets  is  formed  by 
looping  extra  warps  over  wires  inserted  weft-wise  in  the  shed.  When 
all  of  the  pile  is  to  be  cut,  the  cutting  is  done  upon  the  withdrawal 
of  the  wires  by  knives  at  the  end  of  each.  When  only  part  of  the 
pile  is  to  be  cut,  in  other  words  when  the  velvet  is  to  be  cut  and 

7 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

uncut,  the  cutting  is  done  with  a  hand  knife.  Plain  velvets  have  a 
uniform  surface  of  solid  colour.  A  modern  way  of  making  velvets 
without  the  use  of  wires  is  to  weave  two  cloths  together  face  to  face, 
with  special  pile  warps  working  back  and  forth  between  them  and 
joining  them.  The  cutting  of  this  common  pile  by  a  knife  that  travels 
back  and  forth  across  the  loom,  produces  two  velvets  economically 
and  with  a  minimum  of  effort.  Recently,  an  American  manufac- 
turer has  invented  a  way  of  figuring  these  double-woven  velvets  in 
two-tone,  by  inserting  the  pile  warps  thicker  in  the  figures  than  in 
the  ground  (Plate  XVII).  All  of  the  more  complicated  velvets, 
such  as  those  developed  in  Venice,  figured  by  using  pile  of  two  dif- 
ferent heights;  and  Genoese  velvets  having  cut  pile  that  contrasts 
with  uncut  pile  and  often  with  flat  satin  or  twill  or  taffeta  ground, 
the  last  sometimes  in  gold  (Plate  X  of  Chapter  IV),  are  still  woven 
on  hand  looms,  like  many  of  the  more  complicated  brocades,  but 
usually  with  the  Jacquard  attachment. 

MADE  IN  AMERICA 

One  of  the  best  evidences  of  the  rapid  progress  of  the  United 
States  in  silk  weaving  is  the  fact  that  all  of  the  examples  illustrated 
in  connexion  with  this  chapter  (except  the  one  on  Plate  XIV)  were 
made  in  America.  Plate  I  is  a  red  damask  reproduced  from  an 
ancient  Italian  church  vestment  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

Plate  V  is  a  brocade  based  on  an  Italian  original  in  the  Brus- 
sels Museum,  illustrated  and  catalogued  by  Madame  Errera  as 
No.  29,  attributed  to  the  "thirteenth  or  fourteenth  century,"  and 
woven  of  silk,  linen  and  gold.  The  pattern  shows  two  hares  addosse 
et  regardant,  inside  the  circle.  Samples  of  the  same  fabric  are  illus- 
trated by  Cole  on  page  6.5  of  his  "Ornament  in  European  Silks;" 
by  Fischbach  in  colour  on  Plate  LXXX  of  his  "Wichtigsten  Webe- 
Ornamente;"  and  by  Dupont-Auberville  in  colour  on  Plate  14  of  his 
"Ornement  des  Tissus."  There  are  actual  examples  preserved  both 
at  South  Kensington  and  in  the  Cluny  Museum. 

Plate  II  is  a  satin  damask  copied  from  an  ancient  I^ouis  XVI 
piece  that  has  long  been  in  the  possession  of  the  manufacturers,  as 
part  of  the  upholstery  of  a  chair  which  is  said  to  be  one  of  a  set  pre- 
sented by  the  French  King  to  his  queen,  Marie  Antoinette,  for  use 
in  the  Petit  Trianon.  The  musical  trophies  are  characteristic  of  the 
period,  and  the  execution  of  the  fabric  is  beyond  cavil.  I  have  used 
8 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

the  term  satin  ilamask  merely  to  specify  that  it  has  a  satin  ground, 
while  the  figures  are  in  grosgrain  (coarse  taffeta).  If  the  ground 
were  in  grosgrain  and  the  figures  in  satin,  like  Plate  IX,  I  should 
not  hesitate  to  speak  of  it  as  a  grosgrain  damask. 

Plate  X  is  a  gold  brocade  copied  from  a  thirteenth  century  orig- 
inal that  is  Xo.  32  in  Madame  Errera's  catalogue  mentioned  above, 
and  that  is  pictured  in  colour  by  Fischbach  on  Plate  XXI  of  his 
"Ornamente  der  Gewebe."  Fischbach  quotes  an  inventory  of  the 
Cathedral  of  St.  Paul  in  London  to  show  that  in  the  year  1295  a 
fabric  like  tliis  was  called  diaspre,  from  which  is  derived  the  modern 
diaper  (pattern,  especially  one  of  small  diamonds  or  fret  work). 

Plate  III  is  a  soft  and  drapy  soie  brochee  (broche  silk) ,  with  twill 
figm-es  on  taffeta  groimd.  The  pattern  suggests  Moorish  iron  work 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  Plate  IX  is  a  damask  with  large  and 
heavy  satin  figures  on  a  grosgrain  ground.  Plate  XVI  shows  a 
reproduction  of  an  Italian  or  Spanish  damask  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  Renaissance  character  of  the  design  stands  out 
strongly  by  contrast  with  the  Gothic  of  Plates  V  and  X.  The 
original  in  the  Rrussels  Museum  is  in  red  and  blue  on  yellow,  and  is 
catalogued  and  illustrated  by  Madame  Errera  as  No.  254.  There 
are  also  ancient  examples  in  several  other  museums:  At  Oldenburg, 
Turin,  South  Kensington,  Rome,  the  Crocetta  in  Florence,  Diissel- 
dorf.  Plate  XI  is  a  damask  reproduced  from  a  Sicilian  one  that  is 
catalogued  by  Madame  Errera  as  No.  91  and  that  dates  from  the 
fifteenth  century.  A  similar  example  is  reproduced  in  colour  on 
Plate  297  of  his  " Gewebe- Sammlung  des  K.  Kunstgewerbe  Museums 
Berlin"  by  Lessing,  who  describes  it  as  "Spanish  about  1500."  Fisch- 
bach calls  it  "Italian  or  Spanish  of  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth 
centuries;"  and  the  Hamburg  Museum,  "Spanish  of  the  fourteenth 
or  fifteenth  centuries."  The  differences  of  attribution  indicate  what 
is  true,  that  much  expert  work  still  has  to  be  done  on  the  textile  col- 
lections of  our  various  museums,  and  that  it  will  be  an  herculean 
task  to  eliminate  errors  based  on  the  ignorance  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

Plate  XV  is  classed  by  the  makers  as  a  silk  tapestry  and  will 
serve  as  a  definition  of  that  term.  It  has  a  surface  of  coarse  silk 
wefts  tied  with  slender  warp  binders,  and  cotton  warps  buried 
beneath  the  siu-face.  In  appearance  it  resembles  jacquard  verdure 
tapestry  (see  Chapter  XII),  being  comparatively  fiat  with  merely 

9 


Plate  VI — Silk  damask,  loom  finish,  made  in  America 


Plate  VII — American  reproduction  of  French  daniasli 


Plate  VIII — American  reproduction  of  French  damask  Plate  IX — Grosgrain  damask,  made  in  America 

10 


•AMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

line  effet'ts  to  suggest  ribs  running  the  way  of  the  wefts.  Phite  XX, 
though  sometimes  called  a  silk  tapestry,  is  properly  classed  with 
bi'ocades.  It  has  a  Persian  pattern  of  peacocks,  butterflies  and 
cypress  trees,  richly  expressed  in  polychrome  weft  floats  on  a  cotton 
ground.  Plate  VI  is  a  satin  damask  with  grosgrain  figures  that  swell 
in  high  relief  because  "loom  finished" — that  is,  left  as  they  come 
from  the  loom,  without  having  their  spirit  crushed  by  rollers  that 
make  them  level  with  the  gi'ound  of  the  damask.  Plate  XIII  is  a 
brocade  with  pattern  unusually  large.  Plate  XII  is  a  Louis  XVI 
brocade  of  a  type  that  is  both  excellent  and  pojjular.  Plate  XIX 
is  an  Adam  armurc,  with  typical  vase  and  small  figures,  executed 
in  warp  floats  on  grosgrain  groiuid. 

THE  GROWIXC  OF  SILK 

Silk,  wool,  linen  and  cotton  are  the  principal  food  for  looms, 
although  hem  J},  jute,  ramie  and  other  fibres  are  occasionally 
employed  as  cheaper  substitutes.  Each  of  the  master  materials 
owes  special  allegiance  to  a  special  country.  From  time  immemorial, 
China  has  been  famous  for  silk,  Egypt  for  linen,  India  for  cotton, 
and  Flanders  for  wool. 

The  Chinese  have  a  legend  that  the  silk  industry  was  founded 
2698  years  before  Christ,  by  Si-ling-chi,  wife  of  the  great  Prince 
Hoang-ti.  She  was  instructed  by  her  husband  to  examine  the  silk- 
worms and  see  if  their  cocoons  could  be  made  useful.  So  she  col- 
lected many  of  them,  nurtin-ed  them  with  the  greatest  care,  and 
finally  succeeded  in  making  silk  thread  out  of  which  she  wove  beau- 
tiful cloths.  As  a  perpetual  reward  she  received  divine  honors  and 
is  known  as  the  "Goddess  of  Silk."  Over  2,000  years  later  the  art 
was  carried  to  Japan  by  four  Chinese  maidens,  who  instructed  the 
Japanese  court  and  people  how  to  weave  both  plain  and  figured 
goods.  In  their  honor  a  temple  was  erected  in  the  province  of  Settsu, 
and  the  industry  was  encouraged  and  developed  until  it  became  of 
national  importance.  About  the  same  time,  tradition  has  it,  a  Chinese 
princess  carried  the  eggs  of  the  insect,  and  the  seed  of  the  mulberry 
tree,  on  the  leaves  of  which  it  feeds,  to  Khotan  in  her  head  dress  and 
instituted  the  cultiu'e  of  silk  there.  From  there  sericulture  spread 
southward  to  India  and  westward  to  Central  Asia  and  Persia. 

The  first  notice  of  the  silkworm  in  Western  literature  is  by 
Aristotle  who  speaks  of  it  as:     "A  great  worm  which  has  horns  and 

II 


'^^gs^gi«$?f^u  ^ 


Plate  XIV — Primitive  Coptic  velvet 


Plate  X\'     Silk  ta])e,stiv,  iiwuU-  in   America 


Plate  X\'I — Uainahk  made  in   America,   reproduction  of 
an  original   in  the   Brussels   Museum 


Plato  X\'ll-  Xew  kind  of  velvet  recently  originated  and 
made  in  America 


14 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

especially  encouraged  in  Sicily  by  the  Norman,  Roger  II.  From 
Sicily  it  was  carried  northward  throughout  Italy,  and  silks  soon 
became  one  of  the  most  valuable  agricultural  products  of  that  coim- 
try.  Into  Spain  the  Mohammedans  introduced  not  only  the  wear- 
ing of  precious  silks  but  also  the  culture  of  the  silkworm,  and  by  the 
tenth  century  Spain  had  a  large  surplus  of  raw  silk  for  export.  In 
France,  Lyons  early  became  an  important  centre  of  silk  weaving, 
and  is  said  to  have  employed  17,000  weavers  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
but  the  efforts  of  Charles  VIII  in  149.5  to  promote  the  growth  of 
silk  do  not  appear  to  have  been  especially  successful.  A  century 
later  Henri  IV  took  great  pains  to  encourage  the  growing  of  mul- 
berry trees  and  the  culture  of  the  silkworm,  and  succeeded  in  free- 
ing France  from  dependence  on  other  countries  for  raw  silk. 

Francis  I  had  encouraged  the  industry  at  Lyons,  giving  unusual 
prix'ileges  to  Italian  weavers  who  settled  there.  One  of  the  four 
large  mural  paintings  in  the  Crefeld  Textile  Museum  in  Germany 
depicts  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Lyons  with  his  wife,  Eleanor,  the 
sister  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  The  other  three  paintings  show 
(1)  the  Reception  by  Justinian  and  Theodora  of  the  monks  who 
brought  the  silkworms  from  China  to  Constantinople.  (2)  The 
Reception,  by  Roger  II  of  Sicily,  of  the  Greek  weavers  from  Athens, 
Thebes  and  Corinth.  (3)  The  Reception  by  Napoleon  of  Joseph 
Marie  Jacquard,  inventor  of  the  Jacquard  attachment  that  revolu- 
tionized the  weaving  of  elaborately  figured  fabrics. 

Today  the  countries  that  rank  first  in  the  production  of  silk 
are  China,  Japan  and  Italy;  those  that  rank  first  in  the  manufacture 
of  silk  are  the  United  States,  France,  Germany,  Switzerland,  China, 
and  Japan.  Although  no  silk  is  now  grown  in  America,  the  attempt 
has  often  been  successfully  made:  by  Cortez  in  Mexico  in  the  six- 
teenth century;  by  James  I  in  Virginia  in  the  seventeenth  century; 
in  Georgia,  South  Carolina  and  Connecticut  in  the  eighteenth 
century. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  Manchester,  in  Con- 
necticut, had  become  an  important  centre  of  silk  growing,  and  many 
families  of  Connecticut  and  Pennsylvania,  as  well  as  some  of  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland  and  Virginia  produced 
from  five  to  fifty  pounds  yearly.  In  1832  the  legislature  of  Connec- 
ticut offered  a  bounty  for  mulberry  culture  and  fixed  the  price  of 
raw  silk  at  fifty  cents  a  pound.    Maine,  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey 

15 


Plate  X — Brocade  made  in  America,  reproduction  of  one 
in  the  Brussels  Museum 


Plate  XI — Damask  made  in  America,  reproduction  of  a 
original  in  the  Brussels  Museun 


Plate  Xli     Louis  X\'l   brocade,  made  in  America 


Plate   XIII — I.arge-figured   brocade,   made  in   America 


13 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

so  -differs  from  others.  At  its  first  iiietainorphosis  it  produces  a 
caterpillar,  then  a  bonibylius,  then  a  chrysalis — all  the  three  changes 
taking  2)lace  within  six  months.  From  this  animal,  women  separate 
and  reel  off  the  cocoons,  and  afterwards  spin  them.  It  is  said  that 
silk  was  first  spun  in  the  Island  of  Cos,  by  Pamjjhile,  daughter  of 
Plates."  Aristotle,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  pupil  of  Plato, 
and  the  teacher  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  lived  in  the  fourth 
century  before  Christ. 

Soon,  allusions  to  silk  became  common  in  Greek  and  Roman  lit- 
erature. But  even  Pliny  in  the  first  century  after  Christ  told  less 
about  the  silkworm  than  coidd  be  learned  from  Aristotle.  The 
Chinese  origin  of  silk  was  indicated  clearly  enough  by  the  Latin 
name  for  it,  sericum,  derived  from  Seres,  the  Roman  name  for  the 
Chinese,  which  itself  was  borrowed  from  the  Greeks.  The  word  is 
evidently  connected  with  the  Chinese  sse  (silk),  the  French  soie,  the 
Italian  seta,  the  Spanish  seda,  the  German  seide,  the  Russian  «feeZA;, 
the  English  silk. 

Always  the  silks  that  fovmd  their  way  to  Rome  brought  high 
prices  and  their  use  by  men  was  considered  effeminate  luxury.  It 
would  seem  from  an  anecdote  about  the  Emperor  Aurelian,  who 
lived  in  the  third  century  after  Christ,  and  who  neither  used  silk 
himself  nor  would  allow  his  wife  to  have  a  single  silk  dress,  that  a 
pound  of  silk  at  that  time  was  worth  a  pound  of  gold.  Nevertheless, 
it  was  stated  a  century  later  by  the  historian  Anuiiianus  Marcellinus, 
that  silk  had  already  come  within  the  reach  of  the  common  people. 

Not  until  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Justinian  in  the  sixth 
century  after  Christ,  two  centuries  after  Constantine  had  trans- 
ferred the  capital  of  the  Roman  Empire  from  Rome  to  Constan- 
tinople, was  the  growing  of  silk  permanently  established  in  Europe. 
The  story  goes  that  two  Persian  monks,  who  had  lived  long  years 
in  China,  and  learned  the  whole  art  and  mystery  of  rearing  silk- 
worms, visited  Constantinople  and  told  what  they  knew  to  the 
Emperor.  He  bade  them  return  to  China  and  attempt  to  smuggle 
thence  the  materials  necessary  for  the  cultivation  of  silk.  This  they 
accomplished  by  concealing  eggs  of  the  silkworm  and  sprouts  of  the 
mulberry  tree  in  their  pilgrims'  staffs  made  of  bamboo. 

Rapidly  the  culture  of  silk  spread  through  the  Byzantine 
Empire,  especially  to  Syria  and  Sicily,  where  it  continued  to  flourish 
after  the  Mohammedan  conquests.     In  the  twelfth  century  it  was 

18 


< 


•o 

e 


< 
I 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AXD  VELVETS 

and  Pennsylvania  soon  offered  similar  bounties.  In  1836  a  "silk 
mania"  broke  out  resembling  the  famous  "tulip  mania"  of  Holland. 
Mulberry  cuttings  two  feet  long  sold  at  from  $25  to  $500  a  hun- 
dred. One  nursery  man  ordered  5,000,000  trees  from  France, 
making  an  advance  payment  of  $80,000.  Everybody  was  about  to 
acquire  a  fortune  growing  silk,  and  other  crops  were  neglected. 
After  three  years  the  bubble  burst  and  thousands  were  ruined.  By 
1840,  mulberry  trees  were  selling  for  five  cents  each.  Blight  of  the 
mulberry  trees  completed  the  ruin  of  the  raw  silk  enterprise  and 
now,  although  the  United  States  stands  first  in  the  quantity  of  silk 
manufactured,  it  grows  none  at  all. 

Credit  for  illustrations:     Plates  T,  II,  III,   V,    VI,    IX,   X,    XI,    XII,    XIII,    XV,    XVI, 
XVII,  XIX,  XX,  to  Cheney  Bros.;  Plate  XIV,  the  Metropolitan  Museuin  of  Art. 


CHAPTER  II 

DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 
PART  II 

The  Devei.opmj:nt  of  Patterns 

The  names  most  famous  in  the  history  of  damasks,  brocades 
and  velvets  are  China,  Japan,  Persia,  the  Byzantine  Empire  (i.  e., 
the  Roman  Empire  after  Constantinople  succeeded  Rome  as  the 
capital,  .330-1453),  Sicily,  Italy,  Spain,  France.  In  all  of  these 
countries,  patterns  of  distinctive  style  were  developed,  and  actual 
examples  are  preserved  in  European  and  American  collections,  which 
afford  inspiration  for  modern  designers  as  well  as  factsf  for  dec- 
orative historians.  Among  the  most  important  collections  are  those 
at  Lyons  in  France;  the  Musee  des  Arts  DecoratiFs,  and  the  Chmy 
Museum,  in  Paris;  South  Kensington  in  England;  Crefeld,  Ham- 
burg, Oldenburg,  Niireniburg,  Dresden,  Diisseldorf  and  Munich  in 
Gei'many;  the  Kunstgewerbe  Museum  in  Berlin;  the  Kunst  and 
Industrie  Museum  in  Vienna;  the  Musee  des  Arts  Decoratifs  in 
Brussels;  Florence,  Milan,  Rome  and  Venice,  in  Italy;  the  Metro- 
politan Museuiu  of  Art,  and  the  Museum  of  Cooper  Institute,  in 
New  York;  the  Pennsylvania  Museum  in  Philadelphia;  the  Art 
Institute  in  Chicago. 

At  an  early  period  the  Chinese  began  to  weave  elaborate  silk 
tapestries,  damasks  and  brocades.  In  the  third  century  after  Christ 
the  monk  Dionysius  Periegetes  wrote:  "The  Seres  make  precious , 
figured  garments,  resembling  in  colour  the  flowers  of  the  field,  and 
rivaling  in  fineness  the  work  of  spiders."  An  account  of  the  designs 
used  by  the  Chinese  in  their  silks  would  illustrate  richly  all  their 
other  arts,  as  these  designs  have  constantly  supplied  motifs  for  the 
decoration  of  other  materials.  At  least  ten  per  cent  of  modern 
Chinese  porcelain  is  adorned  exclusively  with  brocade  patterns,  and 
a  writer  on  Chinese  ceramics  estimates  that  no  less  than  two-thirds 

18 


>  J3       3  1     >- 


Plate  I— ANCIKNT  GENOESE  JARDINIKUE  VELVET  IN  SEVEN  COLOURS 

19 


(,  c      (    t,     c     ,'< 


<  5  ••  ;  «,< 


Plate  II  Plate  III 

SASSANID   PERSIAN   "DOUBLET"  PATTERNS   IN   THE   BERLIN   MUSEUM 


I'late  IV 


Plate   \' 


BYZANTINE  "DOl'BLET"  PATTERNS,  THE  ONE  ON  THE  LEFT 

IN  THE  BRUSSELS  MUSEUM,  AND  THE  ONE  ON  THE 

RIGHT  IN  A  CHURCH  AT  MAESTRICHT 


20 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

of  the  designs  used  on  poreelain  during  the  Ming  dynasty  were 
taken  from  ancient  silk  brocades  or  embroideries,  the  remaining  third 
being  taken  direct  from  nature  or  reproduced  from  okl  bronzes.  This 
ex])lains  the  frequency  on  enamels  and  porcelains  of  designs  in 
foliated  panels  and  medallions,  on  brocaded  grounds. 

A  genei'al  history  of  Chinese  art  written  in  the  Ming  period  in 
the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  devotes  its  twelfth  book  to 
silks.  It  states  that  many  of  the  ornamental  designs  of  the  ancient 
Ilan  period  (200  li.  C  to  221  A.  D.)  were  still  in  use,  such  as 
dragons,  phoenixes,  birds  and  flowers,  peachstones  and  grapes,  and 
that  in  the  third  century  after  Christ  the  Emperor  Ming  Ti  of  the 
Wei  dynasty  sent  five  rolls  of  brocade  with  dragons  woven  on  crimson 
ground,  as  a  present  to  the  Empress  of  Japan.  Under  the  Sung 
dynasty  (9(50-1279),  the  names  of  more  than  fifty  famous  brocade 
designs  of  the  period  are  given,  among  them:  Dragons  in  Water, 
Pearls  and  Grains  of  Rice,  Cherries,  Lotus  and  Tortoises,  Musical 
Instruments,  Lions  Sporting  with  Balls,  Tree  Peonies,  Peacocks, 
Wild  Geese  Flying  in  the  Clouds.  Storied  Palaces  and  Pavilions, 
besides  numerous  stripes  and  jiinall  geometrical  designs,  groups  of 
symbols,  and  decorative  combinations  of  Chinese  letters.  The  same 
I)atterns  are  still  woven  and  exported. 

Many  of  the  first  Chinese  designs  are  floral,  but  the  flowers  are 
always  more  naturalistic  than  in  Persian  and  Saracenic  art.  In  the 
famous  hinidrcd  flower  brocade  (compare  the  Flemish  mUlefleiir 
tapestries)  it  is  not  difficult  for  anyone  familiar  with  Chinese  flora  to 
identify  each  and  every  plant.  As  in  porcelain,  so  in  textiles,  the 
chrysanthemum  and  the  peony  are  favorite  flowers. 

The  chrysanthemum  is  often  found  in  combination  with  butter- 
flies artfully  conventionalised,  but  yet  very  realistic  in  effect.  The 
lotus  (nelumhium)  is  often  nmch  idealised  but  recognisable  by  the 
characteristic  seedpod  in  the  middle  of  the  flower.  It  is  often  used 
on  a  field  worked  with  leaves  and  stems  in  rococo  scrolls,  bordered 
with  swastika  and  fretwoi'k  bands  whose  angles  sometimes  grow  into 
forms  that  suggest  dragons'  heads.  It  is  also  combined  exquisitely 
with  j)airs  of  wide-winged  bats. 

SASSANID  PERSIAN   PATTEKXS 

Persia,  after  being  subject  to  the  Parthians  for  four  hundred 
years,  recovered  its  independence  in  the  third  century  after  Christ, 

21 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

and  flourished  under  the  Sassanid  kings  until  the  seventh  century, 
when  it  was  subjugated  by  the  followers  of  Mohammed.  The 
greatest  of  the  Sassanid  kings  was  Chosroes  I,  contemporary  with 
the  Byzantine  Emperor  Justinian.  During  his  reign  the  arts  of 
peace  flourished,  especially  the  art  of  weaving.  Interesting  Sassanid 
■*  *  silks  are  preserved  in  the  Berlin  Kunstgewerbe  Museum,  and  in  the 

Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  at  South  Kensington,  as  well  as  in  the 
treasuries  of  several  ancient  German  churches.  Most  of  the  designs 
show  large  circular  bands  standing  in  vertical  columns,  one  directly 
over  the  other.  The  circles  are  often  tied  together  at  the  sides  as 
well  as  at  top  and  bottom,  by  small  circles  and  roses  and  polygons, 
and  the  designs  within  the  large  circles  are  often  doublets  like  those 
on  the  ancient  Assyrian  bas-reliefs,  the  personage  or  group  on  the 
right  being  an  exact  duplicate  (reversed)  of  the  personage  or  group 
on  the  left. 

This  arrangement  or  grouping  is  also  characteristic  of  Byzantine 
fabrics.  A  brilliant  specimen  of  Sassanid  Persian  weaving  preserved 
in  the  church  of  St.  Servatius  at  Maestricht,  shows  circles  each  of 
which  enclose  doublet  Persian  kings  on  horseback,  hunting  doublet 
lions  with  bow  and  arrow.  Another  in  blue  silk  preserved  in  the 
Berlin  Kunstgewerbe  Museum  (Plate  III),  shows  doublet  cavaliers 
on  winged  horses,  enclosed  in  a  circle  whose  border  consists  of  stags 
and  dogs  enclosed  in  tiny  circles. 

Two  of  the  most  important  motifs  in  Sassanid  decorative  art 
were  the  fire  altar  (pyre)  and  the  tree  of  life  (horn).  Especially 
characteristic  of  Zoroastritnism — that  was  the  national  religion  of 
Persia  for  seventeen  hundred  years  until  the  Mohammedans  came, 
and  that  had  been  established  by  Zoroaster  (Zarathustra)  on  the 
basis  and  as  a  reform  of  the  ancient  Iranic  superstitions — was  the 
worship  of  fire.  In  this  religion  the  place  of  temples  was  taken  by 
towers,  on  the  top  of  which  burned  the  sacred  fire,  a  visible  sign  at 
night  of  the  faith  that  helped  cement  together  the  Bactrians  and 
Medes  and  Persians  and  other  tribes  of  Iran  (about  the  same  ter- 
ritory as  modern  Persia) .  The  fire  altar  appears  on  a  reddish  purple 
silk  that  is  preserved  in  the  Church  of  the  Couture  in  Le  Mans, 
between  doublet  lions  that  lick  the  flame  and  face  each  other  with 
tails  rampant.  On  the  flank  of  each  lion  is  a  circle  containing  a  cross- 
shaped  eight-pointed  star  of  the  kind  that  is  found  on  many  Byzan- 
tine tissues.    The  horn,  that  for  the  Persians  was  the  symbol  of  the 

22 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

eternal  renaissance  and  reincarnation  of  persons  and  things,  started 
as  a  date  tree,  but  as  time  passed  assumed  various  forms,  many  of 
them  fantastic.  It  appears  most  interestingly  on  a  silk  from  the 
Church  of  Saint  Ursula  in  Cologne  (Plate  II),  now  in  the  Kunst- 
gewerbe  Museum  in  Berlin,  flanked  by  doublet  cavaliers  who  face 
away  to  repulse  the  attack  of  dotiblet  lions  that  sp^i^  upon  them, 
while  doublet  cherubs  lean  from  the  trefoil-patterned  foliage  to  render 
aid.  Beneath  the  group  ai"e  huge  doublet  lions  that  face  each  other 
reclining,  while  above  are  doublet  wild  goats  that  leap  away  from  a 
small  three-branched  tree  topping  the  tree  of  life.  On  account  of  the 
ornament  upon  the  heads  of  the  cavaliers — a  crescent  surmounted  by 
a  star  between  the  two  wings,  which  is  also  found  upon  the  coins  of 
Chosroes  II  (591-628) — Lessing  dated  the  fabric  as  made  in  that 
monarch's  reign.i  ^ 

BYZANTINE  ROMAN   PATTERNS 

The  reign  of  Justinian  (527-565)  was  a  revival  of  success  in 
war  and  prosperity  in  peace,  for  the  Byzantine  Empire.  His  armies 
reconquered  Italy  and  Africa,  and  he  encouraged  agriculture  and 
manufactures  in  every  possible  way.  He  not  only  promoted  the 
weaving  of  elaborate  fabrics,  but,  as  I  said  in  Chapter  I,  introduced 
the  cultivation  of  the  mulberry  tree  and  the  silkworm,  so  that  the 
Western  world  might  no  longer  be  completely  dependent  upon  the 
Orient. 

Byzantine  art  is  of  course  based  upon  Roman  art.  But  it  is 
Roman  developed  in  a  Greek,  a  Christian,  and  an  Oriental  direction. 
When  Constantinople  succeeded  Rome  as  the  capital  of  the  Empire, 
in  the  fourth  century,  the  Greek  language  began  to  replace  Latin  as 
the  language  of  the  Court,  Christian  symbolism  began  to  crowd  out 
classic  and  pagan  ornamental  forms,  and  Persian  as  well  as  Syrian 
and  Egyptian  began  to  influence  decoration  and  costume  and  archi- 
tecture. 

By  the  time  of  Justinian,  Byzantine  art  had  become  the  dom- 
inant art  of  the  Mediterranean  world.  One  explanation  of  the  great 
similarity  between  Sassanid  and  contemporary  Byzantine  silks  is  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  Byzantine  weavers  were  imported  by  Justinian 
from  Persia.  However,  for  at  least  two  centuries  before  this,  the 
weavers  of  Constantinople  had  been  converting  raw  silk  received 
fyom  the  Far  East,  into  elaborately  patterned  cloths.  Bishop  Asterius 

23 


c  ^ 


i\\      re 


I 


DAMxUSKS,  liKOCADES  AND  VELVETS 

in  the  fourth  centuiy  speaks  of  their  extraordinary  ability,  saying 
that  they  "rivalled  painting  and  knew  how  to  express  the  figui*es  of 
all  the  animals  by  combination  of  warp  and  weft."  But  he  was 
scandalised  to  see  depicted  on  the  fabrics  scenes  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. He  was  indignant  at  the  frivolous  and  haughty  persons  who 
wore  the  gospel  on  their  cloaks  instead  of  carrying  it  in  their  hearts. 

Paul,  the  Silentiaire,  in  his  poetic  description  of  Santa  Sophia — 
the  famous  cathedral  built  by  Justinian,  which  still  survives  in  Con- 
stantinople, having  been  transformed  into  a  Mohammedan  mosque 
when  the  Turks  captured  the  city  in  14.53 — makes  it  clear  that  the 
altar  hangings  were  not  embroidered  but  woven,  when  he  speaks  of 
their  ornamentation  as  "not  produced  with  the  aid  of  the  needle  intro- 
duced laboriously  by  hands  through  the  tissue,  but  with  the  bobbin 
that  constantly  varies  the  size  and  color  of  the  threads  furnished  by 
the  barbarian  worm." 

The  Byzantine  weavers  wei'e  not  content  to  take  the  ancient 
Greek  and  Roman  mythological  and  historical  pictures  and  decora- 
tive motifs  and  reproduce  them  in  Byzantine  style;  they  sought 
rather  to  express  the  dominant  characters  and  characteristics  of 
Christianity,  the  splendor  of  the  triumphant  religion,  the  divine 
majesty,  and  the  protecting  role  of  the  Saints.  From  Syria  and 
Persia  and  still  farther  East,  came  the  tendency  to  interpret  nature 
motifs  decoratively,  to  show  fantastic  animals  and  strange  flowers 
quaintly  transformed  or  almost  transformed  into  pattern.  There 
was  an  Asiatic  wealth  of  griffins  and  unicorns  and  basilisks  and  pea- 
cocks and  eagles  and  wild  ducks  and  leopards  and  tigers  and  lions 
and  elephants,  framed  in  circular  bands  and  geometrical  compart- 
ments, or  arranged  horizontally  between  parallel  bands. 

From  Roman  chariot  races  that  were  continued  as  one  of  the 
favorite  public  amusements  of  Byzantine  Rome,  came  the  frequent 
representations  of  the  quadriga.  One  of  the  most  important,  now  in 
the  Brussels  Museum  (Plate  IV),  is  a  long  band  of  silk  adorned 
with  three  tangent  circles,  each  of  which  displays  the  Emperor 
crowned  and  with  a  whip  in  each  hand  driving  a  chariot,  the  four 
horses  of  which  rear  and  plunge  in  pairs  to  the  right  and  to  the  left. 
A  flying  cherub  on  each  side  of  the  Emperor  offers  him  a  crown.  A 
similar  pattern  appears  on  a  purple  silk  now  in  the  Cluny  Museum 
(Plate  VIII),  once  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  The  driver  holds  the  reins 
of  four  horses  readj^  to  dash  into  the  arena,  while  two  slaves  above 


DAMASKS,  BROCADKS  AND  VELVP7rS 

present  him  with  whip  and  crown,  and  two  personages  below  precede 
the  quadriga  with  horns  of  plenty,  from  which  they  pour  money  upon 
an  altar.  Circus  combats  were  also  a  favorite  subject.  A  small 
fragment  of  pin-ple  silk  at  the  Cluny  Museum  shows,  surrounded  by 
a  white  floral  border,  a  warrior  who  tramples  a  lion  beneath  his  feet. 
An  ancient  cloth  from  the  collection  of  Canon  Bock,  now  shared 
between  the  museums  of  South  Kensington,  I^yons  and  the  Cluny, 
shows  between  parallel  floral  bands,  combatants  clad  in  short  tunics 
and  sandals,  with  legs  bare.  Each  combatant  strangles  a  lion,*  and  is 
the  "doublet"  of  another  combatant  whom  he  faces,  and  of  whom  he  is 
the  exact  reproduction  reversed  in  direction.  Another  rich  fabric  at 
Maestricht  (Plate  V),  part  of  the  garment  in  which  Saint  Servatius, 
the  patron  of  the  church,  was  buried  shows  circular  bands  nine  inches 
in  diameter,  each  containing  the  Roman  Dioscuri  standing  upon  a 
short  Doric  fluted  cohnnn  whose  base  is  adorned  with  a  festooned 
hucramum ,  while  on  either  side  a  bull  is  about  to  be  slaughtered  for 
the  sacrifice,  and  above  a  winged  cherub  pours  the  libation.  The 
small  circles  that  intersect  and  connect  the  larger  circles  contain  each 
four  fleurs-de-lis  that  alternate  with  trefoil  antheiijions.  This  cloth 
recalls  the  scenes  found  on  the  walls  of  the  catacombs  of  the  early 
Christians. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  non-symmetrical  subjects  is 
the  Annunciation  that  appears  in  large  circular  medallions  on  a 
purple  silk,  at  the  Vatican  in  Rome  (Plate  VI).  The  Virgin  is 
seated  on  a  lofty  chair  with  circular  back,  a  stool  beneath  her  feet 
and  on  each  side  a  wicker  backet,  one  holding  the  wool  that  she  has 
spun,  and  the  other  the  wool  that  she  is  about  to  spin.  The  Angel 
advances  towards  her  with  right  hand  extended,  long  tunic,  and 
enormous  wings,  and  hair  bound  in  a  Greek  fillet.  Both  personages 
have  eyes  dilated  and  enlarged,  but  mouths  barely  indicated.  This 
cloth  is  important  for  the  information  it  gives  about  costumes  and 
furniture  as  well  as  about  fabric  pattern. 

A  subject  that  suggests  "Daniel  in  the  Lion's  Den"  appears 
in  blue,  white  and  yellow,  on  chamois  ground,  on  a  fabric  at  tlie 
Cathedral  of  Sens.  In  high  elliptical  medallions,  a  long-haired 
personage  in  diamond-diapered  jacket  and  short  tu»ic,  chokes  back 
two  lions  erect  on  their  hind  legs  that  threaten  him  from  either  side, 
and  tramples  two  others  beneath  his  feet.  The  magnificent  cloth 
from  Aix-la-Chapelle  (Plate  VII)  that  once  enveloped  the  bones  of 

27 


i'lale  XUl      l.oiii.-,  XN  1   sl-Iv.A 


Plate  XIV — Italian  Renaissance  iljiinak 


Plate  XV— Ixmis  XVI  l)rocade 


Plate  XVI — Italian  velvet  of  the  early  eighteenth  centnry 


28 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

Charlemagne  (crowned  Emperor  of  Western  Europe  by  the  Pope 
on  Christmas  Day  800  A.  D.)  bears  an  inscription  in  Greek  as  well 
as  large  circular  bands,  each  of  which  contains  lan  elephant.  The 
inscription  gives  the  names  of  Michael,  I^ord  High  Chamberlain  of 
the  Byzantine  Court,  and  of  Peter,  the  Governor  of  Xegrepont. 
(In  the  cluu-ch  at  Siegburg  is  a  large  piece  of  purple  silk  decorated 
with  lions  and  bearing  the  names  in  Greek  of  two  Byzantine  Emperors 
of  the  tenth  century.  The  lions  recall  those  pictured  on  the  great 
frieze  of  the  palace  of  Nebuchadnezzar  at  Babylon,  and  that  of  the 
Persian  Darius  now  at  the  IjOuvre._  The  Hudarium  of  Saint  Germain 
in  the  Church  of  Saint  Eusebius  at  Auxerre  (Plate  X),  is  a  thick 
purple  silk  covered  with  large  yellow  eagles,  each  of  which  is  diapered 
with  rosettes;  in  Plate  XI  is  a  similar  eagle,  green  ring  in  mouth,  with 
suspended  pearl.  This  suggests  the  "blatti/n  hyzaniea  cum  rosis  et 
aquilUii"  mentioned  in  ancient  inventories,  as  well  as  the  one  the 
Empress  Galla  Placidia  is  said  to  have  placed  on  the  body  of  Saint 
Germain,  who  died  at  Ravenna  in  448  A.  D.  Itudso  suggests  the  cope 
now  at  Metz,  made  from  the  mantle  of  Charlemagne,  which  displays 
foiu-  large  eagles  with  wide-spread  wings,  and  has  tiny  griffins,  cres- 
cents and  serpentine  scrolls  to  fill  up  the  vacant  spaces  and  adorn  the 
geometrical  wings  and  tails. 

COPTIC    PATTERNS 

While  a  large  proportion  of  the  numerous  so-called  Coptic  stuffs 
woven  in  Egypt  from  the  third  to  the  eighth  century  for  use  as  dress 
trimmings,  and  preserved  uninjured  and  unfaded  in  the  graves  and 
tombs,  were  made  of  linen,  or  wool  and  linen,  the  weaving  of  silk  was 
also  an  important  Coptic  industry  as  shown  by  the  collection  in  the 
Kaiser  Friedrich  Museum  at  Berlin,  and  by  Strzygowski's  able  book 
on  the  subject.  All  the  Coptic  fabrics,  of  whatever  material,  sug- 
gest their  Greek-Egyptian  ancestry,  as  well  as  the  successive  influ- 
ences of  Roman,  Byzantine  Roman  and  Mohammedan  dominion. 
Strzygowski  has  also  utilized  many  of  those  that  in  style  are  a 
degenerate  form  of  Byzantine,  to  demonstrate  the  influence  exercised 
by  China  on  the  textile  art  of  Eatpt  and  Western  Asia. 

MOHAJniEDAX     PATTERNS 

In  the  first  quarter  of  the  seventh  century,  in  the  year  622  A.  D. 
to  be  exact,  occurred  an  event  that  was  to  transform  the  world — ^the 

29 


) 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

Hegira  (flight)  of  Mohammed  from  Mecca  to  Medina.  Before  a 
century  had  passed,  the  religion  thus  established  by  an  humble  Arabian 
priest  had  assimilated  to  itself  millions  of  followers,  and  with  sword 
and  Koran  had  brought  Syria  and  Persia  and  Egypt  and  the  rest  of 
Byzantine  Africa,  and  most  of  Spain,  beneath  the  rule  of  Moham- 
medan Caliphs,  faithful  to  Allah  (God)  and  to  his  prophet  Moham- 
med. Even  across  the  Pyrenees,  from  Spain  into  France,  swept  the 
enthusiastic  conquerors,  but  were  finally  checked  by  Charles  Martel, 
the  grandfather  of  Charlemagne,  at  the  battle  of  Tours  in  the 
year  732. 

Henceforth  the  Mediterranean  world  was  separated  into  three 
divisions:  the  Byzantine  Empire  with  capital  at  Constantinople,  the 
Christians  of  Italy  and  Western  Europe,  the  Mohammedans.  At 
the  end  of  the  eighth  century  Charlemagne  temporarily  imited  the 
Christians  of  Western  Europe  into  an  empire  from  the  fragments  of 
which  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  later  was  assembled,  and  the  king- 
dom of  France  created.  In-  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries 
these  western  Christians  were  moved  with  a  religious  fervor  which 
resembled  that  of  the  early  followers  of  Mohanmied,  and  went  on 
crusades  to  Jerusalem  and  other  parts  of  the  East.  For  a  time  the 
Christians  beat  back  the  Mohammedans,  but  as  they  came  to  know 
them  better  they  hated  them  less,  and  the  ambition  to  extirpate  them 
because  of  their  heresies  was  less  keen. 

In  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Turks  once  more 
pushed  forward  the  standards  of  Mohammed  and  captured  Constan- 
tinople, that  in  spite  of  the  attacks  of  barbarians  and  Saracens 
(Mohammedans)  and  the  treachery  in  the  thirteenth  century  of  the 
Crusaders  from  the  West  had  remained  for  over  a  thousand  years 
the  capital  of  the  world's  art  and  civilisation. 

However,  it  is  only  fair  to  state  that  among  the  Mohammedans, 
art  and  science  had  flourished  marvellously.  Compared  with  them, 
the  Crusaders  were  uncouth  and  illiterate.  The  Mohanmiedans 
absorbed  much  of  the  ancient  Greek  civilisation  of  Egypt  and  Syria, 
and  developed  it  marvellously  along  lines  that  created  a  general 
Mohammedan  style,  as  well  as  distinct  divisions  of  the  Mohammedan 
style,  like  Moorish  (Hispano-Moresque)  and  Persian.  Vitally  sig- 
nificant was  the  influence  of  Mohammedan  upon  Byzantine  art,  as 
f^  well  as  of  Byzantine  upon  Mohanmiedan.  But  vastly  more  significant 

and  vastly  more  important  was  the  influence  of  both  upon  the  art  of 

80 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

Western  Europe.  Indeed,  much  of  what  is  often  attributed  to  the 
native  artistic  genius  of  the  descendants  of  the  Franks  and  Lombards 
and  Saxons  and  Goths  and  Burgundians,  is  merely  the  result  of 
borrowing  from  Byzantine  and  Mohammedan  sources,  with  modifica- 
tions often  due  to  imperfect  understanding  and  inferior  skill. 

From  the  decoration  of  their  damasks  and  brocades,  the  Moham- 
medans naturally  enough  banished  the  Christian  subjects  and  symbols 
developed  in  Asia  Minor  and  Syria  and  Egypt  under  Byzantine 
dominion.  But  the  basic  frame-work  and  arrangement  of  circular 
bands  and  geometrical  lines  was  retained,  because  it  harmonised  with 
the  Arabic  character.  Distinctive  of  the  Mohammedans  are  the 
inscriptions  in  Arabic  letters,  sounding  the  praises  of  him  for  whom 
the  cloth  was  woven,  or  repeating  some  verse  from  the  Koran,  or 
the  names  of  the  Prophet  and  other  Mohammedan  princes.  Especially 
popular  in  the  part  of  the  Mohanmiedan  world  of  which  Bagdad  was 
the  capital,  were  the  war  and  hunting  scenes  borrowed  from  Sassanid 
compositions.  The  fabrics  of  Cairo,  "the  capital  of  Mohammedan 
Egypt,  showed  much  less  Persian  and  more  Coptic  influence,  and 
the  decorative  floral  forms  were  stiffer  and  much  less  naturalistic. 

MOHAMMEDAN    SPAIN 

An  especially  interesting  silk  in  the  Royal  Academy  of  History 
at  Madrid  shows  medallions  containing  the  seated  figures  of  a  king 
and  a  queen,  upon  a  ground  adorned  with  birds,  lions  and  other 
animals.  It  bears  a  Cufic  inscription,  with  the  name  of  Abdallah 
Hicham,  who  was  Caliph  in  the  year  976.  A  splendid  example  in 
the  Morgan  collection  shows  sphinxes  facing  each  other  on  either  side 
of  a  tree  of  life.  Plate  XII  is  an  interesting  thirteenth  century  . 
damask  with  "doublet"  pattern  inside  of  wheels.  Characteristic  of 
the  later  Hispano-Moresque  damasks  and  brocades  and  silk  tapestries 
is  the  predilection  for  line  effects  and  geometrical  motifs.  Horizontal 
bands  of  ornament  often  alternate  with  bands  of  inscriptions.  Small 
repeat  patterns  suggestive  of  tile  work  are  conmion. 

An  indication  of  the  importance  of  the  ancient  Mohammedan 
looms  is  the  fact  that  our  word  viuslin  is  derived  from  the  name  of 
the  city  of  Mosul,  damask  from  Damascus,  and  gauze  from  Gaza 
(Plate  H  of  Chapter  IV). 

Credit  for  illustrations:     Plate  I,  P.  W.  French  &  Co.;  Plates  IX,  XIII,  XIV,  XV,  XVI, 
the  Pennsylvania  Museum. 


CHAPTER  III 

DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VPH^VETS 
PART  III 

The  Development  ok  Patterns 

In  the  thirteenth  century  Chinese  and  Central  Asiatic  influences 
once  again  made  tlieniselves  felt  strongly  in  Mediterranean  textiles. 
Jenghiz  Khan,  at  the  head  of  inuunierahle  hordes  of  Mongols  and 
Turks,  traversed  a  large  part  of  Asia  with  fire  and  sword  and  laid 
the  foundations  of  a  mighty  empire.  He  conquered  northern  China, 
Turkestan  and  Persia,  part  of  India  and  part  of  Russia.  His  son 
extended  the  conquests  in  the  East  as  well  as  in  the  West,  where  he 
ravaged  pitilessly  Russia,  Poland  and  Hungary.  But  their  famous 
successor,  Kuhlai  Khan,  invited  peace  instead  of  war,  and  made  his 
capital  at  Pekin,  where  he  was  visited  hy  amhassadors  and  travellers 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,  among  them  the  Italian,  Marco  Polo, 
whose  hook  descrihing  his  residence  there,  and  his  trijjs  hack  and  forth, 
is  a  fascinating  narrative  as  well  as  a  mine  of  valuable  information. 

1/  A  natural  result  of  this  opening-up  of  China  to  the  West  was 

the  profoimd  modification  of  Mediterranean  textiles  due  to  Chinese 
influence.  As  this  influence  was  most  strongly  felt  in  Persia,  and 
reached  the  West  through  Persia,  the  modification  was  more  in  the 
direction  of  Persian-Chinese  than  of  pure  Chinese.  The  circular  bands 
and  geometrical  compartments  and  figure  groujjs  disappear,  and  are 

!  succeeded  in  the  fourteentli  centm-y  by  a  wealth  of  flowers  and  leaf 
motifs,  at  first  stift"  and  highly  conventionalised,  but  later  naturalistic 
though  arranged  in  repeats  and  without  the  freedom  and  freshness 
of  design  that  flourished  in  China.  Parallel  with  this  and  doubtless 
influenced  by  it,  was  the  development  of  verdure  ornament  in  French 
and  Flemish  tapestries,  from  the  crude  rectilinear  shapes  of  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  to  the  varied  and  vivid  mille  fieurs 
of  the  late  fifteenth  and  early  sixteenth.  Indeed,  the  designs  of  many 
32 


:l 


\l 


p 


t^. 


r"X, 


t    <    t  /* 


I'lale   U  .  Plate  III 

FOURTEENTH  CENTURY   ITALIAN'  PATTERNS 


Plate   I\-  -  Plate  V 

FOrRTF.ENTII  CENTURY  ITALIAN   PATTERNS 


34 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

of  the  animal  rugs  woven  in  Persia  in  the  sixteenth  century  are  merely 
anotlier  version  of  the  millc  fleur  tapestries  of  the  West,  while 
tapestries  like  the  "Lady  with  the  Unicorn,"  set  at  the  Cluny  Museum, 
are  simply  alive  with  Saracenic  suggestion.  Important  to  note  at  this 
})oint  are  the  many  Chinese  "cloud  bands"  and  ribbon  knots,  and 
other  Chinese  motifs  that  appear  on  Persian  rugs  and  silks  from  the 
foiu'teenth  to  the  sixteenth  century,  easily  recognisable  although 
obviously  reproduced  by  weavers  ignorant  of  their  meaning. 

ANIMAL  PATTERNS 

It  has  long  been  the  fashion  to  attribute  the  lack  of  animal  and 
human  life  seen  in  modern  Oriental  rugs  and  other  fabrics  to  the 
prohibitions  of  the  Mohammedan  religion.  Mohammed,  in  his  eager- 
ness to  supjjress  the  worship  of  idols,  repeatedly  forbade  the  repre- 
sentation of  life.  But  the  expounders  of  the  Koran  did  not  find  it 
difficult  to  evade  the  law,  and  while  preserving  the  ban  on  naturalistic 
animal  forms,  permitted  conventionalised  fanciful  or  fantastic  treat- 
ments. Moreover,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  have  their  Christian  slaves 
and  subjects  reproduce  unorthodox  designs,  reasoning  that  the 
Christian  weaver  and  not  the  Mohammedan  wearer,  might  be  expected 
to  receive  the  punishment.  Also  the  prohibition  against  the  weaving 
of  silk  was  held  not  to  extend  to  silk  stuffs  with  linen  or  cotton  warp. 
In  other  words,  the  fidelity  to  the  sacred  law  varied  in  different 
Mohanunedan  countries,  being  strictest  in  Moorish  Spain. 

.  The  same  condition  prevailed  in  Christian  countries.  Certainly 
the  making  of  images  and  pictures  of  persons  and  animals  is  pro- 
hibited definitely  enough  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Ten  Command- 
ments, yet  sculpture  and  painting  do  not  on  that  account  suffer 
greatly  in  Christian  countries,  although  animal  forms  have  been 
banished  fi"om  most  European  woven  fabrics  (except  tapestries). 
Protestant  churches  admit  pictures  into  stained  glass  only,  and  that 
grudgingly  and  usually  with  little  art. 

Undoubtedl}'  the  religious  prohibition  had  an  important  influence 
not  only  in  the  iconoclastic  movements  of  the  Christian  Empire  of  the 
East  and  the  West  (the  Byzantine  Empire  and  that  of  Charlemagne) 
in  the  eighth  century,  but  also  in  the  Mohammedan  world  at  various 
periods.  Moreover,  the  religious  influence  against  woven  pictures  in 
silk  was  powerfully  supijlemented  by  other  influences — by  inability  to 
weave  figures  that  were  both  representative  and  decorative;  by  the 

85 


Plate   VI — Coi)e  in   Persian   sixteenth  oentury   brocaded 
velvet,  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art 


Plate  VII — Ancient  Persian  velvet  in  the  Metroj)olitan  Museum  of  Art 


36 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

introduction  of  a  wealth  of  motifs  from  the  East,  which,  as  they  trav- 
elled West,  lost  their  meaning  and  became  formal  small  repeat  pat- 
terns instead  of  large,  living  ones;  last,  and  most  important  of  all,  by 
mechanical  improvements  in  the  loom  which  made  it  easier  to  produce 
piittern  and  harder  to  produce  design. 

MOHAMMEDAN   PERSIAN   PATTERNS 

Noteworthy  are  the  damasks  and  brocades  and  velvets  of 
Mohammedan  Persia  (Plate  VIII)  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries,  alive  with  personages  and  animals  in  the  midst  of  luxuriant 
flora.  Especial  fame  attaches  itself  to  the  city  of  Kashan  that  had 
been  founded  by  the  wife  of  Caliph  Harun-al-Raschid,  Charlemagne's 
heroic  Saracen  contemporary.  The  favorite  flowers  were  the  jacinth, 
the  tulip,  the  eglantine,  the  pink,  and  the  peach  blossom.  The  manner 
of  their  expression  and  composition  was  a  marvel  of  decorative  art. 
Long  stems  describe  graceful  curves,  and  the  fabrics  seem  like  rich 
gai'dens  of  paradise  in  which  man  and  the  animals  appear  newly 
created  after  centuries  of  stiff  and  conventionalised  representation. 
In  these  wonderful  fabrics,  many  of  them  rich  with  gold,  are  sug- 
gested the  fascinating  scenes  of  the  Arabian  Nights.  Here  we  see 
the  poet  reciting  his  verses  to  his  sweetheart ;  or  some  Persian  Orpheus 
searching  for  her  whom  he  has  lost  among  the  trees;  or  the  chief 
surrounded  by  his  cavaliers  pin-suing  the  lion,  or  launching  the  falcon; 
all  with  an  elegant  grace  and  refined  naturalism  that  far  excelled  the 
most  ambitious  attempts  of  Sassanid  predecessors.  From  Persia, 
this  wonderful  activity  spread  to  the  West,  to  Asia  Minor  and  Syria 
under  the  dominion  of  the  Turks,  and  thence  to  Italy. 

SICILIAN  PATTERNS 

Although  Sicily  came  under  the  control  of  the  Normans  at  the 
end  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  Mohanunedans  preserved  their 
religion,  their  customs  and  costumes  and  industries.  Especially  were 
they  encoiu'aged  to  continue  to  practice  the  art  of  weaving.  Roger  II, 
the  Norman  king  of  Sicily,  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, is  also  said  to  have  brought  back  from  his  victorious  expedition 
to  Greece  (then  part  of  the  Byzantine  Empire),  Corinthian,  Theban 
and  Athenian  weavers  to  instruct  his  own  subjects  in  growing  as  well 
as  in  weaving  silks,  and  to  swell  the  fame  of  his  tiraz  at  Palermo  (tiraz 
being  the  name  used  to  designate  the  weaving  factory  which  most 

37 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

Mohammedan  princes  supported  at  their  courts).  Soon  Sicily  began 
to  weave  silks  for  the  Crusaders  who  acquired  in  Asia  a  taste  for 
Oriental  luxury.  From  Palermo  the  ships  of  the  Venetians,  which 
at  this  period  almost  monopolised  the  trade  of  the  Mediterranean, 
bore  away  the  famous  Sicilian  silks  and  distributed  them  throughout 
Italy,  Austria,  Germany  and  France. 

Most  famous  of  the  Sicilian  silks  are  those  preserved  in  the 
Imperial  Treasury  at  Vienna,  once  the  coronation  vestments  of  the 
Norman  kings  of  Sicily,  then  for  six  centuries  the  official  robes  of  the 
head  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  brought  to  Germany  in  119.5  by 
the  Emperor,  Henry  VI,  who  married  Constance,  the  heiress  of  the 
Two  Sicilies  (Sicily  and  Naples).  The  mantle  that  is  divided  into 
two  quadrants  by  a  tree  of  life,  on  each  side  of  which  is  a  lion  that 
has  downed  a  camel  and  is  about  to  devour  him,  has  the  design  not 
woven  but  embroidered,  and  bears  the  inscription,  "Part  of  what  was 
worked  in  the  royal  factory,  in  the  capital  of  Sicily,  in  the  year 
of  the  Hegira  528"  (A.  D.  113.3,  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
Roger  II).  The  richness  and  beauty  of  the  mantle  are  indescribable. 
The  alb  of  white  silk  taffeta  and  the  purple  dalmatic  have  also  been 
preserved. 

The  designs  of  the  Sicilian  figured  silks  were  rich  and  full  of 
symbolism,  inheriting  from  Byzantine  as  well  as  from  Saracen  sources. 
A  lion  seizing  a  duck  that  an  eagle  has  pursued,  suggests  that  the 
owner  of  the  garment  was  valiant  enough  to  snatch  his  booty  from 
the  eagle,  the  eagle  signifying  good  fortune  and  riches;  the  lion,  power 
,  and  government. v  Another  silk  shows  a  woman  regarding  a  hare, 
-^  and  holding  in  leash  a  hound  and  a  spotted  cheetah,  while  diagonally 
below  is  another  woman  with  an  eagle  that  holds  a  doe  fast  in  its 
claws.  Another  Sicilian  design  often  reproduced  for  modern  church 
vestments  shows  two  facing  stags  that  look  heavenward  into  the  rays 
of  the  sun  upon  which  sit  two  eagles,  ;all  framed  in  an  hexagonal 
band  of  tiny  hexagons  like  those  that  niodern  oilcloth  has  borrowed 
fi'om  tiles.  Another  silk  shows  a  lion  an(f  a  hoopoe  between  two  bands 
of  arabesque  ornament  that  contain  the  inscription  in  Arabic,  "The 
Wise  Sultan,"  which  is  particularly  appropriate  because  the  hoopoe 
is  a  bird  that  symbolises  wisdom.  Another  design  shows  crowns 
alternating  with  large  pin-wheel  stars,  and  beneath  each  crown  a 
pigeon  above  a  twisted  ribbon  is  conspicuously  placed  bearing  an 
inscription  in  Arabic. 
S8 


/ 


< 


DAMASKS,  EllOCADES  AND  VELVETS 

LUCCA,  VKNICK  AND  GEXOA 

In  the  thirteenth  century  the  cities  of  northern  Italy  hegan  to 
compete  with  Sicily,  first  among  them  Lucca,  whose  products  were  / 

shipped  to  Paris,  Bruges  and  I^ondon.     Soon  the  example  of  Luccji  i 

was  followed  in  Pisa,  Siena,  Milan,  Florence,  Bologna,  Venice  ^and  J 

Genoa.  xVs  many  of  the  weavers  were  Sicilians  who  fled  from  Palermo  / 

to  seek  refuge  from  the  persecutions  that  succeeded  the  so-called  / 

Sicilian  Vespers  in  1282,  when  all  the  French  in  the  island  were  massa-  ■ 

cred,  the  Italian  patterns  were  at  first  (luite  as  Oriental  as  the  Sicilian.  j 

But  hefore  long  the  Saracenic  designs  and  inscriptions  hegan  to  lose 
their  meaning  and  to  be  copied  merely  as  ornament  without  regai'il 
to  their  special  significance  ( Plates  II  to  V ) .  With  the  borrowed 
forms  were  mingled  Italian  creations — cartouches,  escutcheons,  castles, 
fences  and  weird  fantastic  shapes.  Gradually  each  city  began  to  • 
develop  along  individual  lines,  and  became  famous  for  some  specialty. 
Lucca  wove  religious  subjects,  scenes  fr®m  the  New  Testament,  with 
winged  cherubs  and  angels  carrying  the  instruments  of  the  Passion, 
and  tabernacles  and  relicpiaries  flanked  by  angels  and  cherubs.  The 
ribbon  ornament,  employed  by  the  Chinese  to  symbolise  Heaven, 
was  used  at  Lucca  with  the  same  significance.  Siena  also  wove  New 
Testament  subjects,  usually  to  take  the  place  of  the  orphrey  embroid- 
eries on  church  vestments,  and  with  light  designs  on  a  dark  ground, 
commonly  red. 

Venice  is  said  to  have  learned  the  art  from  families  that  fled 
from  Lucca  during  the  political  troubles  there  at  the  beginning  of 
the  fourteenth  centiu'y.  But  we  have  literary  e\'idence  that  the  art 
of  weaving  cloths  of  silk  and  gold  had  already  been  practised  in 
Venice  for  OAcr  half  a  century,  which  was,  of  course,  to  be  expected 
on  account  of  the  direct  commercial  relations  of  Venice  with  Palermo 
and  with  Constantinople.  However,,  it  is  forjffih  ets  that  Venice  was 
especially  noted  (Plate  I),  in  the  fourteenth  century  reproducing 
Persian  desigiis  so  faithfully,  with  the  same  palmette  motifs  and 
scrolls  of  tulips,  pinks,  eglantines  and  jacinths,  but  with  perhaps  a 
little  less  freedom  and  inspiration,  that  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to 
tell  them  from  the  original.  The  Venetians  also  created  a  special 
kind  of  velvet  in  which  the  designs  rose  in  slight  relief  above  the 
ground,  both  in  cut  velvet.  At  the  end  of  the  fom-teenth  century, 
designs  of  Gothic  ironwork  and  ornament  derived  from  stained  glass 
windows  began  to  appear  in  satin  upon  cut  velvet  ground. 

39 


1/    o    ~^ 


■'■5"''- 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

Genoa  also  reproduced  Oriental  designs,  and  its  specialty  dvn'ing 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  was  ciscle  velvet,  which  is  the 
combination  of  cut  with  uncut.  The  designs  were  conparatively  small 
and  dark  upon  a  satin  ground,  at  first  slender  trees  with  birds  perched 
in  the  branches,  animals  rampant  and  crouching  and  walking.  The 
compositions  were  no  longer  symmetrical,  and  the  uncut  part  was 
often  different  in  colour  from  the  cut  part. 

GOTHIC  POMEGRANATES 

During  the  foiu-teenth  century  the  slender  and  graceful  tendrils 
borrowed  from  the  Orient  were  converted  into  knotted  branches  that^ 
formed  a  pointed  oval,'  inside  of  which  was  placed  a  group  of  animals. 
From  the  lower  angle  began  to  sprout  the  pomegranate  (the  apple 
of  love)  that  was  to  be  the  characteristic  ornament  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  At  first  it  was  small  and  subordinated  to  the  animals,  but 
it  ended  by  crowding  out  the  animals  altogether,  and  being  trans- 
formed into  the  imposing  pattern  that  dominated  the  fabrics  of  the 
fifteenth  century  and  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth.  It  is  com- 
posed of  a  central  fruit  seen  from  the  side,  and  placed  in  a  cluster  of 
leaves  around  which  grow  flowers  and  leaves  surrounded  by  various 
ornament.  The  pomegranate  in  the  centre  symbolises  Christian  lovet 
the  surrounding  blossoms  and  fruit,  that  love  by  the  aid  of  faith  brings 
forth  the  fruit  of  everlasting  life. 

In  the  last  half  of  the  fifteenth  centiu-y  a  new  style  of  pome- 
granate pattern  became  popidar,  particularly  at  the  liurgundian 
Court,  to  which  Flanders  was  then  subject,  and  which  set  the  Gothic 
decorative  styles  that  were  followed  by  France,  Germany  and  Eng- 
land, and  to  some  extent  by  Italian  weavers.  The  pomegranates  grew 
from  a  broad,  wavy,  decorated  band,  each  on  a  wavy  stem  with  blos- 
soms and  leaves  (Plate  I).  Dui-ing  the  fifteenth  century  Italian 
weavers  began  to  emigrate  to  France,  Flanders  and  Switzerland,  and 
by  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  the  industry  was  well  established 
to  the  north  of  the  Alps. 

RENAISSANCE  VASES 

In  the  sixteenth  century  the  vase  replaced  the  pomegranate  as 
the  characteristic  pattern.  At  first  it  was  a  very  modest  vase,  out  of 
which  the  pomegranate  grew,  but  it  ended  by  displacing  the  pome- 
granate altogether,  just  as  the  pomegranate  a  century  before  had 

41 


Plate  XI — Italiiui   liaroqiie  damask  in  silk  and  linen 


Plate    XII — German    Renaissance    damask,    pold    taffeta 
figures  on   red   satin   (froniid 


Plate  XIII-   l.owis  XIII  damask,  miidcrn   rfjini<lM<'ti(>n 


Plate  XIV      I.ouis   XI  \'   damask,   mkkUmii    reproduction 


49 


I'latc  W — l,()lli^s  XI  \'  (imiiask,  iiKKlern  reprotluotioii 


'J. 

*1* 

^^.0*^-^ 

•y^ 

•l^"^''- 

'  "•       *  - 

:,  .'' 

^^  .-^"i^/.. 

Plate  X\'I — Louis  W    daniask,  miKlerii  re])r<Hluc'tion 


♦«ki< 


-^*^ 


*« 


\\     liiin:i(lc.   Miudcr'n    rrjirndurt  itui 


Plate  XVIII — Italian  Uoeooo  brocade,  mi)deni  reproduction 


43 


■  ■■-. 


'/*w 


'I'v^- 


Plate  XIX — Louis  XVI  velvet,  modern  rejiroduction 


Plate  XX — ^Louis   XVI   brocade,   rich   and   elaborate   in 
many  colours,  modern  reproduction 


Plate  XXI — Italian  lanipas  in  five  colours, 
modern  rej)roduction 


Plate   XXll  -lypical    Krt'n<-li   directoire    lanipas    in    iwo 
tones  of  grey  on  blue  ground,  modern  reproduction 


44 


/ 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

disjjlaced  the  animals.  Gradually  the  vase  assumed  elegant  and  elab- 
orate Renaissance  forms  from  which  grew  blossoms  and  flowers  as 
they  previously  did  from  the  pomegranate  (Plate  X) .  Patterns  tend 
to  become  smaller  (Plate  XIV  of  Chapter  II),  as  the  long  Gothic 
robes  are  replaced  by  the  shorter  garments  of  the  Renaissance. 
Instead  of  vases  we  sometimes  And  palmettes  treated  in  similar 
fashion,  or  small  clusters  of  flowers  loosely  framed  with  blossoms 
and  leaves.  Colours  become  less  brilliant  and,  like  the  patterns,  less 
assertive.  The  grotesque  ornament  of  ancient  Rome  is  copied  and 
used  as  a  som-ce  for  motifs  and  method.  Architectural  forms  and 
frames  become  Renaissance  (Plate  I  of  Chapter  XVI)  instead  of 
Gothic  or  Oriental  in  style,  and  the  vertical  effects  of  Gothic  are 
supplanted  by  the  horizontal  (Plate  XII;  also  Plate  XIV  of  Chap- 
ter II)  and  other  treatments  characteristic  of  Classic  conception 
and  practice. 

THE  BAROQUE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

During  the  ])eriod  of  transition  from  the  Renaissance  of  the 
sixteenth  centin-y  to  the  Baroque  of  the  seventeenth  (Plates  XI, 
XII,  XIII),  the  framework  of  the  motifs  began  to  disappear.  The 
symmetrical  form  in  the  centre  was  displaced  by  an  unsymmetrical 
branch  with  blossoms  and  leaves,  and  finally  developed  into  the  typical 
seventeenth  centiny  pattern  of  detached  branches,  in  vertical  series 
leaning  alternately  to  right  and  left.  There  was  great  variety  in  the 
manner  of  drawing  and  in  the  interpretation  of  botanical  details  as 
well  as  in  the  size  of  branches,  which  were  from  two  to  ten  inches 
long.  At  the  same  time  the  vase  patterns  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
but  often  without  frames,  were  repeated  thi-oughout  the  seventeenth 
century,  with  the  heavier  shading  and  stronger  contrasts  that  are 
characteristic  of  Baroque  (Plates  XIV,  XV).  Especially  rich  and 
luxurious  were  the  velvets  of  the  period  of  Louis  XIII. 

During  this  period  were  eliminated  the  Gothic  and  early 
Renaissance  tiny  repeats  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  splendid  picture 
effects  on  the  other,  and  motifs  were  employed  that  were  inferior  to  the 
latter  in  interest  and  to  the  former  in  decorative  value.  It  was  the 
exaggeration  of  parts  at  the  expense  of  the  whole,  and  produced 
patterns  that  dazzle  with  their  heavy  boldness,  even  though  they  weary 
with  their  loudness.  As  in  architecture,  painting  and  tapestries,  so  in 
damasks,   brocades   and   veIveEs===Barui|ne'was   a  ~sculptural   style. 

45 


Pliite  XXIII  Plate  XXIV 

Modern  American  figured  velvets  with  changealjle  grounds 


Plate  XX\'     Italian  brocaded  dania.sl<,  seveiiteentli  century  Plate  XW I     Modern   Anicricaii   fijiurcd  velvet 

4(i 


DAMASKS,  IJKOCADKS  AND  VELVETS 

Patterns  did  not  please  unless  they  rose  strongly  in  relief  against 
the  ground.  The  line  and  eolour  beauties  of  Oriental  and  Gothic  and 
Renaissance  were  sacrificed  in  order  to  produce  the  illusion  of  "in  the 
round."  In  the  attempt  to  express  on  flat  surfaces  the  combination 
of  line,  colour  and  relief,  confusion  often  resulted.  Especially  bom- 
bastic is  the  Baroque  of  Italy,  Flanders  and  France,  of  the  first  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century  (Plate  1  of  Chapter  11).  That  style  at 
its  best,  and  as  interpreted  by  a  genius,  is  seen  in  the  paintings  of 
Rubens. 

LOUIS  XIV 

But  the  style  of  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth  century — that 
is  to  say  the  style  of  Louis  XIV  (Plates  XIV,  XV),  which  was 
extensively  copied  and  imitated  in  the  other  countries  (Plate  XI), 
though  not  always  skilfully  and  usually  with  local  accent  and 
tone — was  Baroque  pruned  of  its  excrescences  and  brought  within 
the  reign  of  law.  Lender  Charles  Lebrun  the  decorative  arts  of 
France  were  co-ordinated  and  France  instead  of  Italy  became  the 
decorative  centre  of  the  world,  and  the  style  of  Louis  XIV  became 
supreme.  Immediately  the  interpretation  of  flora  became  much  more 
realistic  and  the  modelling  of  lights  and  shadows  more  just.  The 
antithesis  of  Gothic  and  Oriental  was  reached,  and  instead  of  the 
strong  line  effects  of  the  foin-teenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  and  the 
flat  strap  work  of  Renaissance,  we  have  ponderous  and  rigidly  bal- 
anced details,  with  design  marked  and  accentuated  by  contrast  of 
tone.  Pearlier  ages  had  employed  tiny  conventional  forms  diapered 
over  the  surface  of  velvets  and  brocades,  side  by  side  of  the  larger 
patterns.  Where  the  style  of  Louis  XIII  had  been  oppressive,  that 
of  Louis  XIV  was  impressive.  The  perfection  of  its  execution  and 
the  justness  of  its  proportions  compel  admiration,  even  though  one 
is  not  in  sympathy  with  "heavy  pedal"  effects.  The  style  of  Louis 
XIV  is  a  "finished  style,"  complete  in  all  details,  with  a  wealth  of 
damasks,  brocades  and  velvets,  to  match  its  tapestries,  paintings, 
furniture  and  architecture.  It  is  a  Classic  style,  but  Classic  made 
thoroughly  French. 

LOUIS  XV  AXl)  CHIXESK 

The  style  of  Louis  XV  (Plates  XVI,  XVII,  XVIII)  is  a 
reaction  from  Classic  in  the  direction  of  Romantic,  from  grandeur 
towards  grace,  from  formalism  towards  naturalism,  from  heroic  to 

47 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

human.  It  is  above  all  a  feminine  style,  and  a  style  vivid  with  life  and 
movement  (Plates  X,  XI  of  Chapter  XV).  The  tendency  was 
alreadj^  perceptible  fifteen  years  before  the  death  of  Louis  XIV,  in 
1715,  after  a  reign  of  seventy-two  years.  Already  lace  motifs  and 
Chinese  motifs  were  beginning  to  introduce  themselves  into  brocades. 
Already  Rococo  motifs  were  beginning  to  disturb  the  balance  of 
designs  with  their  naturalistic  twists.  Let  us  note  the  derivation  of 
the  term  Rococo.  It  is  evolved  from  the  first  syllables  of  rocaille  and 
coquille,  and  hence  literally  means  "rock-and-shell,"  but  with  long 
use  the  meaning  of  Rococo  has  broadened  from  "rock  and  shell" 
naturalism  to  include  naturalistic  motifs  borrowed  from  trees  and 
plants  and  other  objects,  especially  when  the  treatment  is  unsym- 
metrical.  The  tapestry  chair  back  of  Plate  IX  in  Chapter  XVI 
is  a  complete  definition  of  Rococo. 

The  importance  of  Chinese  influence  on  the  decorative  art  of  the 
eighteenth  century  is  usually  underestimated  (Plates  X,  XV,  XVII, 
XVIII,  XXXVI  of  Chapter  VI;  Plate  VIII  of  Chapter  XVI). 

An  important  revival  of  commerce  between  France  and  China 
was  one  result  of  an  embassy  sent  by  Louis  XV  bearing  Gobelin 
tapestries  and  other  splendid  gifts.  In  return  the  Chinese  Emperor 
sent  back  wonderful  pieces  of  porcelain  and  rich  brocades.  To  these 
apparently  is  due  the  remarkable  development  of  colour  perception  in 
Europe  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XV. 

Brilliant  but  without  delicacy  even  when  mellowed  by  gold,  had 
been  the  colours  of  Gothic  and  Renaissance ;  not  until  Europeans  had 
a  chance  to  study  the  wonderful  wealth  of  hues  and  tones  in  Chinese 
silks  and  porcelains  were  they  able  to  produce  the  charm  that  is  the 
prime  characteristic  of  the  French  eighteenth  century,  that  is  to  say 
of  the  styles  of  Louis  XV  and  Louis  XVI. 

The  style  of  Louis  XV  was,  above  all,  an  interesting  style.  It 
was  full  of  variety.  Chinese  vases  and  dragons,  quaint  Chinese  land- 
scapes without  perspective,  pigtailed  Chinamen  in  swings  and  boats, 
Chinese  pagodas  and  bridges  and  gardens  and  parasols,  combined 
with  motifs  copied  directly  from  nature  to  relieve  the  ennui  of  an 
age  more  anxious  for  thrills  and  new  sensations  than  for  glory  and 
great  accomplishment.  Delightful  beyond  words  is  the  capricious 
introduction  into  textile  patterns  of  Rococo  architectural  fragments, 
together  with  cascades  and  rocks  and  trees  fancifully  treated.  Shadows 
are  no  longer  accentuated,  as  under  Louis  XIV,  but  light  and  shade 

48 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

and  colour  are  rendered  with  all  the  delicate  gradations  that  nature 
has  given  in  such  profusion  to  flowers  and  fruit. 

LOUIS  XVI 

While  the  style  of  Louis  XV  was  a  "back  to  nature"  style,  that 
of  Louis  XVI  (Plates  XIX,  XX)  was  a  "back  to  classic"  style.  But 
it  was  classic  of  an  entirely  difi'erent  character  from  Louis  XIV.  It 
retained  most  of  the  grace  and  more  than  the  delicacy  of  Louis  XV 
(Plate  XV  of  Chapter  II) .  It  was  a  style  based  not  upon  the  public 
buildings  of  ancient  Rome,  like  Renaissance  and  Baroque,  but  upon 
Roman  domestic  architecture  and  decorations,  especially  those  of 
Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  that  became  available  through  excava- 
tion about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Many  books  were 
published  illustrating  Pompeiian  form  and  ornament,  and  the  popu- 
lar phrase  in  decorative  circles  was  "in  the  antique  style." 

The  style  of  Louis  XVI  is  above  all  a  symmetrical  style  and  a 
gentle  style.    From  it  is  banished  all  violence  of  line,  shape  and  hue. 
Especially  soothing  are  the  colours  with  their  subdued  greys  and  lack- 
of  brilliancy.     The  decorative  motifs  are  small,  usually  smaller  than- 
nature.     The    variety    of    tiny-figured    broches    and    brocades    and 
velvets  originated  was  extraordinary.     The  basis  of  arrangement  is 
the  vertical  straight  line,  carrying  tiny  roses  and  other  florals,  baskets  - 
of  flowers,  and  vases  (Plate  XIII  of  Chapter  II) ,  medallions,  musical 
and  gardening  instruments,  and  especially  ribbons  gracefully  twisted 
and  knotted.    Stripes  (Plates  XIV  and  XV  of  Chapter  II)  and  oval 
shapes  of  various  kinds  are  common,  and  parallelism  of  motifs  is 
frequent. 

DIRECTOIRE  AND  EMPIRE 

While  the  Empire  style  is  also  Classic,  it  is  classicism  of  an 
entirely  different  kind.  It  was  a  reaction  from  the  delicate  and  the 
graceful  to  the  grand  and  the  bombastic.  It  possesses  the  kind  of 
showy  magnificence  bj^  which  the  multitude  is  impressed,  and  for  that 
reason  its  influence  was  dominant  long  after  Napoleon  met  his  Water- 
loo. It  is  the  least  French  of  all  the  French  styles,  and  copied  classic 
ornament  boldly  and  baldly  instead  of  adapting  it  to  modern  con- 
ditions. It  apes  the  severity  of  republican  Rome  and  the  grandiosity 
of  imperial  Rome.  It  is  essentially  a  warlike  style.  Flaming  torches, 
eagles,  stars,  triumphal  wreaths  and  mythological  emblems  like  the 

4y 


Plate  XXVII  Plate  XXVIII 

MODERN  AMERICAN  FIGURED  VELVETS  WITH  CHANGKABLE  GROUNDS. 


Plate   XXIX  Plate  XXX 

MODERN  AMERICAN  FIGURED   VKIAETS. 
50 


I'lMlc     \XX1 


Phite  XXXI I 


MODERN   A.MKUKAX    I'lCrUKD   VKLVETS 


Plate  XXXIII 


Plate  XXXIV 


MODERN  AMERICAN   FIGURED  VELVETS 

51 


Plate  XXXV 


Plate  XXXVI 


Plate  XXXVII 


Plate  XXXVIII 


UPHOLSTERED  FURNITURE  IN  THE  MORGAN  COLLECTION  AT  THE 

METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM 

On  the  left,  tapestry;  on  the  right,  above,  larapas;  below,  velvet 


SS 


DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

helmet  of  Minerva  and  the  tlumderbolt  of  Jupiter  are  repeated  over 
and  over.  Otlier  common  motifs  are  Greek  vases,  anthemia,  harps, 
cornucopias,  swans,  lions,  cu])ids,  caryatids,  rosettes.  The  small- 
figiu'ed  fabrics  are  hard  and  monotonous,  with  tiny  detached  motifs 
geometrically  arranged.  Shiny  fabrics  were  especially  admired — 
large-figured  damasks  and  sombre  velvets  with  relief  effects  almost 
Baroque  in  their  character. 

The  possibilities  of  the  newly  invented  Jacquard  attachments 
were  perverted.  ApiJarently  the  overcoming  of  textile  difficulties  was 
more  sought  than  the  production  of  beauty. 

Colour  schemes  became  heavy  and  sombre.  The  exquisite  pastels 
of  Louis  XVI  were  supplanted  by  deep  greens,  reds,  blues,  browns 
and  purples. 

In  other  words,  the  Empire  period  was  as  much  distinguished  for 
lack  of  taste  as  the  French  jjeriods  immediately  preceding  for  the 
possession  of  taste.  The  period  of  transition  between  Louis  XVI  and 
Empire  is  Directoire  (Plate  XX;  also  Plate  XV  of  Chapter  XVII) . 

THE  NINETEENTH   CENTURY 

This  lack  of  taste  continued  to  overshadow  Europe  during  the 
whole  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  poverty  of  individuals  and  of 
nations  caused  by  the  Napoleonic  wars  turned  the  efforts  of  men  away 
from  beauty  to  necessity,  and  the  extraordinary  material  progress  and 
accumulation  of  wealth  due  to  the  development  of  steam  power  and 
railroads  kept  the  attention  of  the  world  concentrated  on  quantiti/ 
rather  than  qualiti/.  The  various  Gothic,  Queen  Anne,  Empire,  Louis 
XIV  and  I^ouis  XV  revivals  did  little  to  raise  the  general  standard 
of  appreciation.  Even  the  pre-Raphaelites  and  William  Morris 
found  it  hard  to  make  themselves  understood.  But  at  last,  with  the 
twentieth  century,  we  began  once  more  completely  to  assimilate  the 
past  and  once  more  to  understand  what  styles  really  are  and  what  it 
means  to  create  a  new  style.  Already  our  damasks,  brocades  and 
velvets  show  wonderful  ability  in  the  reproduction  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful historic  textiles,  and  enough  that  is  new  has  been  accomplished 
to  demonstrate  that  a  new  style  period  is  about  to  begin.  [Note:  For 
other  illustrations  of  period  designs,  see  especially  Chapters  XVII 
and  XVIIL] 

Credit  for  illustrations:  Plate  I,  P.  W.  French  &  Co.;  Plates  II  to  X  and  XXXV  to 
XXXVIII,  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art;  Plates  XIII  to  XXII,  F.  Schumacher  &  Co.; 
Plates  XXIII,  XXIV,  XXVII,  XXVIII,  W.  E.  Ro.senthal. 

53 


CHAPTER  IV 
FUNDAMENTAL  AND  MODERN  WEAVES 

Nothing  is  more  fascinating  or  more  difficult  than  to  analyse 
weaves  from  the  decorative  and  the  use  point  of  view.  Even  designers 
who  can  accurately  plot  the  fabrics  on  design  paper,  or  punch  them 
on  jacquard  cards,  hesitate  and  stammer  when  asked  to  put  their 
technical  knowledge  into  popular  form,  and  to  transmute  their 
recondite  formulas  into  phrases  that  will  help  the  man  behind  the 
counter  as  well  as  the  woman  in  front  of  it.  Part  of  the  difficulty  is 
due  to  poverty  of  terminology.  Words  like  iapestry,  as  explained  in 
Chapter  XII,  are  employed  in  meanings  that  vary  according  to  the 
time  and  the  place,  and  the  intent  of  the  seller. 

A  word  that  suffers  almost  as  nmch  as  tapestry  from  catholicity 
of  meaning  is  plain.  A  plain  fabric  may  be  one  of  plain  weave  in 
the  sense  that  there  is  complete  alternation  of  warps  and  wefts,  or  it 
may  be  a  fabric  of  twill  or  satin  weave  in  solid  color,  or  it  may  desig- 
nate a  woven  fabric,  even  one  that  has  been  figured  on  the  loom,  by 
contrast  with  one  that  has  been  printed.  In  this  chapter  it  will  be 
used  in  the  first  sense  only. 

The  fundamental  weaves  are  plain,  twill  and  satin.  Given  an 
understanding  of  these,  and  one  has  already  gone  far  towards  the 
comprehension  of  complicated  double-cloth  and  jacquard  effects. 
Without  them,  one  is  jjerplexed  and  bewildered  by  comparatively 
simple  webs  like  those  of  taffeta,  rep  and  denim. 

At  this  point  it  may  be  well  to  emphasise  the  fact  that  in  weav- 
ing, the  warp  threads  are  mounted  on  rollers  and  stretched  the  long 
way  of  the  loom,  whilst  the  weft  threads  (also  called  filling  or  train) 
are  thrown  in  the  shuttle  across  the  loom  from  right  to  left,  and  back 
again;  also  that  a  prerequisite  to  weaving  is  a  loom,  and  that  without 
a  loom  there  can  be  no  weaving;  also,  that  a  loom  in  its  simplest  form 
is  merely  a  frame  to  hold  the  warp  threads  taut  and  parallel  and 
54 


Plate  I— RIGHTKKNTH  CKNTUUY  VKXKTIAX  CARVKD  AND  PAINTED  CHAIR, 
UPHOI.STKRKD  IX  STRIPKD  SATIN 


55 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

enable  the  warps  to  be  moved,  some  up  and  some  down,  so  as  to  leave 
the  opening  or  shed  through  which  the  bobbin  or  shuttle  passes. 

In  plain  weave  there  is  complete  alternation  of  warps  and  wefts ; 
that  is  to  say  on  the  way  out,  across  the  loom  from  right  to  left,  the 
shed  through  which  the  bobbin  passes  has  the  odd  threads  below,  and 
the  even  threads  above;  whilst  the  shed  through  which  the  bobbin 
passes  on  the  way  back  has  the  even  threads  below  and  the  odd  threads 
above.  This  shifting  of  sheds  in  plain  weave  is  produced  most  simply 
on  the  high-warp  tapestry  loom,  where  the  cross-stave  holds  the  warps 
open  in  the  first  position,  except  when  the  lisses  or  looped  strings 
attached  to  the  odd  warps  are  pulled  by  the  weaver's  left  hand  so  as  to 
bring  the  warps  into  the  second  j)osition.  On  the  low-warp  tapestry 
loom,  the  odd  warps  are  threaded  through  a  harness  that  is  moved 
up  and  down  by  a  treadle  which  is  worked  by  the  weaver's  left  foot, 
whilst  his  right  foot  handles  the  even  warjjs  in  the  same  way.  On  all 
real  tapestry  looms,  the  weft  is  passed  on  the  bobbin,  and  there  is  no 
shuttle.  The  shuttle  to  carry  the  bobbin  was  introduced  when  the 
wefts  began  to  be  thrown  or  knocked  the  full  width  of  the  warp, 
instead  of  being  passed  only  as  far  as  the  particular  colour  went. 

The  simplest  form  of  plain  weave  is  where  warps  and  wefts  are 
of  the  same  size  and  the  same  distance  apart,  so  that  they  show  equally 
on  the  surface.  An  illustration  of  this  is  the  cotton  etamine,  pictured 
on  Plate  A  1,  where  the  fact  that  the  weave  is  comparatively  open 
with  the  threads  far  apart  makes  it  easy  to  analyse  the  structure. 

Other  examples  of  textiles  of  simple,  plain  weave  are  the  bin-lap 
on  Plate  A  4,  and  the  crash  on  Plate  A  3,  both  in  jute  with  very 
rough  and  irregular  weft  threads  that  give  interesting  variety  to  the 
surface.  An  even  clearer  illustration  of  the  complete  alternation  of 
plain  weave  is  the  monk's  cloth  in  Plate  B  1,  where  both  warp  and 
weft  are  worked  in  pairs.  Much  less  obvious  is  the  plain  weave  of 
the  jaspe  cloth  on  Plate  A  2,  where  the  coarse  blue  wefts  are  buried 
beneath  the  fine  brown  warps,  but  shine  through  enough  to  play  an 
important  part  in  the  jaspe  effect,  that  is  secured  by  the  use  of  con- 
trasting warjjs,  some  light  brown,  others  dark  brown.  With  Plate 
B  3  we  come  to  a  cotton  rep,  the  fine  warps  of  which  are  so  numerous 
as  completely  to  cover  the  coarse  wefts  that  make  their  presence 
obvious  in  the  form  of  ribs.  In  Plate  B  4.  the  wefts  are  so  uneven  that 
the  result  is  a  shikii  rep,  the  vivacity  of  the  surface  of  which  is  height- 
ened by  the  fact  that  the  dark  red  wefts  are  not  completely  covered, 
56 


c 


FUNDAMENTAL  AND  MODERN  WEAVES 

and  .shine  tliroiigli  the  hght  red  warps  in  spots  of  colour.  In  Plate  B  2 
the  fine  warps  are  assembled  in  groups  of  fom*  over  alternating  pairs 
of  wefts  so  that  a  honeycomb  or  basket- weave  warp -covered  surface 
is  produced.  Reps  that  have  coarse  wefts  covered  with  fine  warps  are 
called  icarp  reps;  those  that  have  coarse  warps  covered  with  fine  wefts, 
xccft  reps.  But  just  as  the  fine-thread  efi'ects  on  a  bobbin  loom 
(real-tajjestry,  high-warp  or  low-warj})  are  produced  with  the  weft, 
so  on  the  shuttle  loom  the  fine-thread  effects  tend  to  be  produced  with 
the  warp;  and  whilst  real  tapestries  are  weft  reps,  shuttle  rejjs  and 
shuttle  ribbed  tapestries  are  usually  warp  reps.  Warp  reps  can,  of 
course,  be  figiu'ed  in  stripes  by  grouping  the  warps  in  different  coloiu's, 
but  plain  weaves  like  etamine,  where  wefts  show  equally  with  warps, 
or  where  the  wefts  show  through  between  the  warps,  are  merely 
spotted  or  toned  when  warps  of  different  colours  are  used. 

TWirX  AND  SATIX  WEAVES 

With  Plate  C  we  come  to  ttciU  and  satin  weaves  where  the  loss 
of  flexibility  and  control  over  the  pattern  that  results  from  the  sub- 
stitution of  shuttle  for  bobbin  is  made  up  for  by  increased  manipula- 
tion of  the  warps.  In  plain  weave,  the  warps  divide  into  two  systems, 
one  of  the  odd  warps,  the  other  of  the  even  warps.  In  twill  weave, 
the  warp  is  divided  into  at  least  three  systems;  in  satin  weave,  into  at 
least  five  systems.  The  result  is  that  whilst  the  surface  of  plain  weaves 
consists  of  horizontal  lines  intersecting  vertical  ones,  as  in  etamine  or 
burlap;  or  of  coarse  horizontal  ribs  entirely  covered  with  fine  warps, 
as  in  rep ;  or  of  fine  and  often  hardly  perceptible  horizontal  ribs  only 
partly  covered  with  fine  warjis,  as  in  silk  taffeta  and  silk  grosgrain 
and  the  jaspe  cloth  illustrated  on  Plate  A  2,  the  surface  of  twills  shows 
diagonal  ribs,  as  in  Plate  C  1,  and  the  surface  of  satins,  fine  warp 
threads  only  that  lie  smooth  and  flat  with  a  characteristic  gloss  or 
shininess  produced  by  their  even  parallelism,  as  in  Plate  C  3. 

A  characteristic  one-two  twill  is  the  denim  in  Plate  C  1.  In  weav- 
ing it,  the  warps  are  divided  into  three  systems.  A,  B  and  C — the 
A  system  including  warps  1,  i,  7,  etc.;  the  B  system  warps  2,  5,  8, 
etc.;  the  C  system  warps  3,  6,  9,  etc.  For  the  first  passage  of  the 
shuttle  to  the  left,  the  A  warps  are  depressed  and  the  B  and  C  warps 
elevated,  so  that  the  weft  covers  the  A  wai-ps  but  is  covered  bj^  the 
B  and  C  warps.  For  the  i-eturn  of  the  shuttle  to  the  right,  the  B 
threads  are  depressed  and  the  C  and  A  threads  elevated.     For  the 

57 


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DAMASKS,  BROCADES  AND  VELVETS 

next  passage  of  the  shuttle  to  tlie  left,  the  C  threads  are  depressed  and 
the  B  and  A  threads  elevated,  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  web.  The 
result  is,  of  course,  that  twice  as  many  warps  as  wefts  remain  on  the 
surface  and  make  their  presence  apparent  in  the  form  of  diagonal 
ribs.  When  the  wefts  are  comparatively  coarse,  as  in  the  case  of 
Plate  C  1,  they  lie  comparatively  flat  and  the  warp  ribs  on  the  face 
of  the  fabric  are  high  and  sharp,  whilst  the  back  of  the  fabric  consists 
of  coarse  wefts  only  jjartly  covered  with  fine  warps,  the  effect  resem- 
bling that  of  plain  weave,  as  in  Plate  A  2.  Of  coiu'se,  a  twill  may 
also  be  under  one  over  three  (a  one-three  twill),  or  under  two  over 
two  (a  two-two  twill),  etc.  AVhen  warjjs  and  wefts  are  of  the  same 
fineness,  the  fabric  can  be  figured  in  stripes  by  letting  the  warp  pre- 
donnnate  in  some  (for  instance,  a  one-two  twill),  and  the  weft  in 
others  (a  two-one  twill)  ;  or  in  blocks  or  checks  similarly.  Then  if 
the  warps  are  red  and  the  wefts  green,  the  fabric  will  be  chequered 
red  and  green  on  the  face,  as  in  some  Scotch  plaids,  and  reversed  on 
the  back.  When  the  wefts  are  coarse  as  compared  with  the  warps,  as 
in  Plate  C  3,  the  diagonal  effect  is  minimised  in  the  weft  stripes  by 
the  horizontal  eft'ect  of  the  wefts.  In  Plate  C  4,  which  is  a  striped 
denim,  the  warps  are  dark  green  and  the  wefts  light  green,  so  that 
we  have  dark  green  warp  stripes  alternating  with  light  green  weft 
stripes.  Plate  C  2  is  a  sateen,  a  twill  satin  with  diagonally  ribbed  but 
satiny  surface,  owing  to  the  large  predominance  of  weft  over  warp. 
It  is  a  four-one  twill  and  the  wefts  are  coarser  and  snioother  than  the 
warps.  On  Plate  C  3  we  have  a  satin  Derby  (the  trade  name  for  a 
cotton  or  mercerised  satin )  which  is  a  one-four  twill,  the  surface  con- 
sisting of  fine  mercerised  warjjs,  whilst  the  back,  on  account  of  the 
coarseness  of  the  wefts,  resembles  plain  weave,  the  horizontal  effect 
of  the  wefts  minimising  the  diagonal  effect  of  the  sparse  warps. 

DAMASK   AND   BROCADE    WEAVES 

Table  damasks  are  the  simplest  of  all  damasks  to  understand 
because  the  contrasts  of  texture,  that  is  to  say,  of  warp  surfaces  with 
weft  surfaces,  are  easy  to  see. 

Just  as  tapestry  is  the  most  elaborately  figured  and  character- 
istic product  of  the  bobbin  loom,  so  damask  is  the  most  characteristic 
figured  product  of  the  fully  developed  shuttle  loom,  whilst  brocade  is 
bobbin  weft  figuring  superposed  on  shuttle  loom  effects,  the  word 
brocade  being  in  ibi  origin  equivalent  to  bobbin  or  bobbin-figured,  and 
*  61 


(3)     Antique  damask 
Plate  D— DAMASK  WEAVES 


FUNDAMENTAL  AND  MODERN  WEAVES 

also  to  the  French  broche,  which  is  derived  from  hroche,  the  word 
that  designates  the  pointed  bobbin  of  the  high-warp  tapestry  loom. 
Real  tapestry  depends  for  its  figures  upon  contrasts  of  coloured 
threads,  whilst  damask  depends  primarily  not  upon  colour  contrast,  but 
upon  line  contrast,  i.  e.,  the  contrast  of  the  ribs  of  partly  covered 
wefts  with  warp  satin  ground,  or  of  warp  satin  figures  with  gros- 
grain  or  rep  or  twill  ground.  Plate  D  2  is  a  typical  silk  damask  with 
figures  that  have  the  horizontal  ribbed  effect  of  grosgrain  tafi'eta 
because  of  the  coarseness  of  tlie  partly  covered  wefts,  but  that  are 
really  in  weft  twill,  as  can  be  seen  from  the  back  that  is  a  pronoimced 
warp  twill  with  sharp  diagonal  ribs.  We  have  then  in  the  figures 
both  diagonal  rib  and  horizontal  line  effects  that  contrast  boldly  with 
the  vertical  line  effects  of  the  satin  ground,  giving  the  peculiar  con- 
trasts of  light  and  shade  characteristic  of  damask.  If  the  wefts  were 
a  different  colour  or  tone  from  the  warps,  the  figures,  being  only  jiartly 
covered  with  thin  warps,  would  follow  largely  the  colour  or  tone  of  the 
wefts.  On  Plate  D  1  the  figures  are  in  warp  satin  and  the  ground  in 
warp  rep  so  that  the  wefts  do  not  show  at  all. 

In  Plate  D  3  we  have  one  of  the  cleverest  simple  creations  of  the 
modern  loom,  called  "antique  damask."  The  figure  of  the  dog  whose 
head  is  decapitated  in  our  illustration,  is  in  fine  rep,  and  the  flowers 
are  in  coarse  rep,  both  outlined  by  short  weft  floats  against  the  satin 
ground.  This  means,  of  course,  that  all  the  surface  except  the  out- 
lines consists  of  the  fine  mercerised  warps  that  cover  the  ribs  of  both 
the  reps  and  form  the  surface  of  the  satin.  To  form  the  coarse  rep 
the  wefts  are,  of  course,  covered  in  pairs.  This,  however,  is  not  all. 
The  designer  was  M'orking  on  the  inspiration,  roughly  and  remotely 
if  you  will,  but  nevertheless  definitely,  of  ancient  mediaval  damasks, 
and  instead  of  keeping  the  warps  all  light  in  tone,  made  enough  of 
them  dark  in  small  groups  to  diversify  the  tone  of  the  outlines  and 
also  of  the  ribs  through  which  the  wefts  show  only  a  little  but  enough 
for  the  darker  wefts  to  make  their  presence  felt  in  relieving  the  other- 
wise monotonous  surface  of  the  dog's  body,  that  is  also  subtly  and 
agreeably  broken  by  isolated  warp  floats.  This  "antique  damask"  is 
utterly  and  completely  unlike  the  rich  silk  and  gold  creations  of  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  but  it  shows  a  feeling  for  texture 
that  is  just  as  important  when  working  in  cotton  as  when  working  in 
silk  and  gold.  It  is  a  beautiful  proof  of  the  fact  that  some  mod«ffn 
designers  are  able  to  see  beyond  the  design  paper  and  really  feel  the 

68 


I'liite  III-  COTTON  BACK  DAMASK  WITH  SATIN  AND  GOI.D  FIGURES  ON  RKP  UUOUND 


Plate  IV— SILK  DAMASK  WITH  l'IL?:T  LACE  STRIPES  IN  COTTON 

6S 


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FUNDAMENTAL  AND  MODERN  WEAVES 

threads  in  which  their  ideas  are  to  be  expressed.  Plate  E  3  shows 
satin  stripes  in  one  colour,  alternating  with  fine  rep  stripes  of  another 
colour.  The  surface  of  both  is  a  warp  surface,  the  difference  of  colour 
being  produced  by  having  warps  in  groups  of  different  colours. 

MODERN  WEAVES 

With  Plate  F  1  we  come  to  another  weave  characteristic  of  the 
shuttle  loom  (I  almost  wrote  warjj  loom,  because  the  tendency  on 
the  shuttle  loom  is  to  produce  intricate  figured  effects  by  the  manipu- 
lation of  fine  warps,  just  as  on  the  bobbin  loom  by  the  manipulation 
of  fine  wefts).  The  weave  of  Plate  F  1  is  an  armure  weave,  related, 
I  think,  to  the  word  annure  that  the  French  use  to  describe  the 
scheme  of  a  warp  system,  and  not,  as  has  sometimes  been  said,  to  the 
armure  that  means  armour.  An  armure  shows  small,  conventional 
figures  formed  by  floating  short  lengths  of  warps  on  a  rep  ground, 
so  that  the  surface  consists  entirely  of  warps.  The  figure  on  F  1  is 
a  fleur-de-lis  framed  in  a  diamond.  Plate  F  2  is  an^  armure  in  rose, 
with  silvery  lace  effect  introduced  by  bringing  white  wefts  to  the 
surface  and  tying  them  down  with  warps  so  sparsely  that  they  are 
hardly  covered  at  all,  and  toned  towards  rose  only  a  little.  The 
diamond  mesh  effect,  produced  by  floating  warps  in  the  lace-framed 
large  diamonds,  is  delightful.  Floated  effects  in  combination  with 
basket  weave  and  plain,  partly  covered  weft  ground,  are  employed  in 
the  black  stripes  of  the  "crinkled  casement  cloth"  of  Plate  E  2,  a 
feature  of  which  is  the  crinkle  of  the  white  stripes  in  plain  weave. 

Why  the  fabric  illustrated  on  Plate  G  4  is  called  cotton  taffeta 
no  one  knows,  unless  because  it  resembles  silk  taffeta  in  having  partly 
covered  wefts.  The  tiny  figures  certainly  bear  no  resemblance  to  silk 
taffeta  and  are  formed  by  weft  floats.  Plate  G  1  is  a  typical  silk 
broche  with  twill  weft  figures  in  high  relief  upon  a  finely  ribbed  warp 
ground.  Jus^as  typically  what  among  modern  silk  fabrics  is  called 
a  brocade,  is  Plate  G  2,  with  its  detached  figures  mostly  in  coloured 
wefts  that  float  irregularly  upon  a  ribbed  warp  ground,  and  with 
stripes  that  are  figured  by  floating  extra  warps  as  well  as  wefts. 
Plate  G  3  shows  geometrical  floated  black  weft  figures  upon  a  blue, 
finely  ribbed  warp  ground  through  which  the  black  of  the  wefts 
shines,  stippling  the  surface  agreeably. 

Now  we  come  to  Jacquard  tapestries  that  consist  of  two  or  more 
sets  of  warps  and  wefts  (double  cloths  in  fact),  but  that  are  tied  on 

69 


Plate  VI 


Plate  VII 


MODERN  AMERICAN  JACQUARD  WEAVES 


Plate  VllI  Plate  IX 

JACQUARD  COTTON  BROCADES  AND  TAPESTRIES  MADE  IN  AMERICA 

70 


Plate  X 


Plate  XI 


Plate  XII 


Plate  XI 11 


MODERN  AMEHICAN  NOVKl.TIKS 
71 


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FUNDAMENTAL  AND  MODERN  WEAVES 

the  surface  so  as  to  produce  the  effect  of  plain  weave  ribbed  as  in 
Plate  F  3,  or  lined  both  ways  (i.  e.,  in  square  point  like  cross-stitch 
needlework)  as  in  Plate  F  4.  F  3  has  a  system  of  light  coarse  wefts 
Avith  fine  coloured  warps,  and  also  a  system  of  black  coarse  wefts  with 
fine  coloured  warps.  The  figures  are  formed  by  bringing  to  the  sur- 
face sometimes  the  light  wefts,  sometimes  the  black  wefts,  and  modify- 
ing their  colour  by  warps  that  cover  them  partly,  toning  them  towards 
red  or  blue  or  green  or  whatever  tone  is  desired.  While  F  3  resembles 
real  tapestry  surface  in  being  ribbed,  the  effects  possible  are  limited 
as  compared  with  those  of  the  fine  square  points  of  F  4  in  which 
complicated  pictiu-e,  as  well  as  verdure  effects,  are  produced.  The 
same  idea  applied  in  coarse  point,  or  in  coarse  combined  with  fine 
point,  to  the  imitation  of  old  cross-stitch  needlework  is  wonderfully 
effective.  Plate  E  1  shows  a  most  ambitious  weave  in  cotton  called 
"striped  Antoinette."  In  it  tapestry  stripes  alternate  with  black 
damask  stripes,  from  which  they  are  separated  by  cording  formed  of 
coarse  warps  loosely  tied  on  the  surface  by  slender  weft  binders.  The 
points  of  the  tapestry  are  very  fine  and  the  colours  are  many  upon  a 
cream  ground.  The  figures  of  the  damask  stripes  are  in  rep  on  satin, 
the  surface  being,  of  course,  entirely  warp. 

In  gauze  weaves  warp  threads  twist  in  pairs  around  wefts,  hold- 
ing them  firmly  and  permitting  the  structure  to  be  more  open  and 
more  lace-like  than  the  structure  of  other  shuttle-woven  fabrics. 
Plate  H  1  is  a  grenadine  with  mercerised  wai-ps  and  artificial  silk 
wefts,  and  is  figured  with  plain  weave  flowers  upon  gauze  ground. 
Plate  H  3  is  a  gauze  figured  by  omitting  groups  of  warps.  Plate  H  2 
is  a  coarse  net  with  large  open  mesh,  figured  by  twisting  pairs  of  warps 
around  pairs  of  wefts.  Plate  H  4  has  large  squares  outlined  by  double 
cables  upon  a  rectangular-mesh,  gauze-net  ground. 

A  very  delightful  fabric  suggestive  of  the  ancient  gold  damasks 
is  shown  on  Plate  II,  with  coarse  gold  wefts  tied  loosely  down  upon 
a  plain  blue  jaspe  cotton  ground.  The  contrast  between  the  hori- 
zontal gold  wefts  and  the  fine  vei'tical  warp  threads  of  the  ground  is 
pronounced,  but  the  coloiu-  contrast  is  softened  not  only  by  the  grey- 
ness  of  the  jaspe  surface,  and  the  blue  that  shines  through  the  gold 
wefts  from  beneath,  but  also  by  the  dulness  of  the  gold,  which  con- 
sists of  coffee-coloured  strips  of  thin,  tough  paper  gilded  on  one  side 
and  each  twisted  into  thread  after  the  fashion  of  the  Japanese. 

Plate  III  is  a  cotton-backed  damask,  that  is  to  say,  a  red  and 

78 


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»»  «•»•:►  •■►V— ;^---~-^..-... :r — := ^r  "^^  •% 

•"«■»  •*  ♦^,ii,i..'^"^::i-«i»  •v-:;:^-^.^-''.^':^^^^----^ —  .**»"♦ 

^^►^♦•t-i;:^^— .:::: — TS,^*riY  ^n'' ^^^-r-jr.^::! — --   r~  --~-~^~~~~^-^^ 

».?*»__- ^^~^--~.^-=-^_^v:^r^^_ ;:. — IL.C^---^--:-—.**^ 

«S_                       ~ = .;=u;-__---^.i.»»J« 

,  — -                                           , ^      .      — »_ —ar^^  •        — - 

c 

'T^Xi^'-^^-^~-^~~--~--^:::^.^m ■.>■•'.         .':r.:;z:::-^ >.  ^».-^»  ^  »'"«.^'-r-^ 

,~ 

'^b' — ^--^-.-----'•^-■_^n.-_-^_---_—;—^»»  «»♦►-<»•  ♦»-_«<«fcr" 

" 

i*'^^— '^ i.*V»  ^ — -.rrrr-.^Tr-^-rr-rrr*  *  <.».4«»  *t»  «i»'^a 

3 

»•» r:^F:;^~«»*~£H-2H-;-:L~-';~"-  «»»»«'»«''»j»"^ 

E 

«r».«  •«■>.«>  «•»  ♦•.-ri--_--r-_^:;->;_;__>;;.*  «,»«»««  «  •.'":;: 

•>♦»  «»*»«»«»«»•_  ~3.-i:h;-;.;.~E-7r-;-««»  *»♦  »  **.'«;r-J 

'^ 

•*  «'w  «  fr  «-fr  «^  ^f^'^.^~"^~^~~^~~-^^*^^  ■.«iV«»*"*.»C'»»'-*'-^ 

»?«i»  »  ^  «»  «♦  «••■•'r:--;=^-"H:-■---.^►"•«1^  •»  ♦•  ;«-~-^:r. 

■"^ 

tik.^-rr  *<'♦«»  *%■•••-,-•: ■"--■:.-..,-4*-«».'.«i»>i~-^_^_— 

C!l- 

►*^-~i-?»'  «*  «>«^«  »'  rSvivv"-  •»'■<*  ••♦  ;'??c--5:-"^;t-< 

••■'"-"-»"*'«»♦»•■»•• «»»  «:»  «•  «»  «<»"'«^u;r'_-""-"^-i.— Vit 

•  ••"r---K-r^i.i'»  «  »  «»  <*«'»•-<  »'-«»-";~-"-"-^-'"-'"-r,—«*-< 

*»  ••■■T.v,'"-rl-~-_-^i.*t-'*  ••  >• « ►  ■••:.'rr-;"---^-.-^«i»-'«i« 

*■♦.*♦*  *'»'->-~-;->-->>-H>----jvr?--*"--~-~^^^^^^ 

''♦•^^♦•'»'*'»^-V--I-:nj-~'^rKHHHHHHHr -•■'■-  •-'*»'»  '♦»*»»"-•- 

i>  .»««.«*  '«■»««.  -•i-V'-V^-"-------~-~-"--"-"."'»»»»  *•«•>♦- 

■~ » « * •♦«» «•■ «»  -x.r:;; •--_----_-_-_^---«»:«v.«» ■«»■)»- 

-vriii-i'-_«.ii.;:i.:r^:-K->K"-~"5vv-~<^*^ 

V^'':::-:::s-r--~£SSz:r^.~~-^<:--~^^»»*'''T'-:''^*fm^^\ 

•'•f-V-v--";~-iu-rr>^-;~-"4vv.v*  »."---•«»  *r_^^^^ 

**-.i;^C-^-;-j:".^v.>«'»--.».»^_---"."4.«'.«>»^-->>>>i;^'.';^_;r« 

:«a~-r-K-"-~-'5?vr' :«»'*»--*<:t.r'"--"  " •♦  ^itfr:^------- — ^-r^.^." 

3 

o 

I 

K 


FUNDAMENTAL  AND  MODERN  WEAVES 

gold  damask  with  coai'se  cotton  wefts  tliat  do  not  come  to  the  surface 
except  in  short  floats  to  outline  the  satin  figures  on  rep  ground,  both 
of  which  are,  of  course,  executed  in  silk  warps.  However,  there  are 
also  gold  figures,  executed  in  supplementary  wefts  of  gold  which  come 
to  the  surface  in  plain  weave  and  are  toned  only  a  little,  but  agreeably, 
by  the  slender  red  silk  warps  that  tie  them  at  intervals.  The  red  of 
the  rep  ground  is  darkened  but  enlivened  by  the  twinkling  through 
of  the  black  of  the  cotton  wefts,  and  the  red  of  the  satin  figures  by 
the  twinkling  through  of  the  gold  wefts. 

Plate  IV  is  a  lace  .stripe  damask,  with  filet  lace  stripes  that 
alternate  with  damask  stripes,  the  latter  having  rep  figures  on  satin 
ground,  both  jaspe  and  executed  in  fine  warps  of  lilac  silk.  In  the 
lace  stripes  there  are  also  coarse  cotton  warps  and  wefts  brought  to 
the  surface  and  so  tied  with  slender  binders  as  to  simulate  the  square 
mesh  effect  of  filet  lace,  on  a  ground  of  lilac  silk,  whilst  other  coarse 
cotton  wefts  fill  up  the  meshes  of  the  darned  part  of  the  lace. 

Plate  V  is  the  "striped  Antoinette,"  illustrated  for  texture  on 
Plate  E  1.  Plates  XIV,  XV,  XVI  are  all  mercerised  "derby 
damasks,"  which  is  the  trade  name  for  cotton  damasks.  Plate  XIV 
is  an  old  style  one  shown  in  order  to  make  clear  the  vast  improve- 
ments in  weave  and  textiu'e  that  have  been  accomplished  in  the  past 
ten  years,  as  illustrated  by  Plate  XV,  which  is  a  new  style  derby 
damask.    Plate  XVI  is  a  derby  damask  with  small  figures. 

SILK  VERSUS  CHEAPER  MATERIALS 

Whilst  many  of  the  fabrics  so  far  discussed  in  this  chapter  exem- 
plify the  use  of  cheaper  materials  than  silk  to  produce  or  supplement 
silk  effects,  it  is  not  just  to  dismiss  them  with  contempt  as  "cheap 
imitations."  Many  of  the  results  obtained  equal  or  surpass,  but  in  a 
different  way,  the  results  obtained  with  silk,  especially  where  there 
have  been  understanding  and  appi'cciation  of  the  texture  effects  pecu- 
liarly possible  to  cotton  and  to  mercerised,  as  in  the  derbies  and  the 
cotton-backed  goods;  of  the  texture  effects  peculiarly  possible  to 
linen,  as  in  table  damask;  or  to  jute,  as  in  burlap;  or  to  artificial  silk, 
as  in  several  of  the  gauze  weaves;  or  to  gold,  even  paper  gold,  as  in 
Plate  II.  The  value  of  a  work  of  art  does  not  and  should  not  depend 
upon  the  value  of  the  materials  that  compose  it.  Human  intelligence 
and  human  effort  are  what  create  art,  and  the  success  with  which  they 
are  applied  is  the  measure  of  the  beauty  attained.    A  well-planned 

77 


Plate  XVI — Small-figured  Derby 


Plate  XVII — Modern  gold  velvet  in  Sassanid  design 


78 


FUNDAMENTAL  AND  MODERN  WEAVES 

and  well-woven  jute  or  cotton  is  vastly  more  important  than  an  all- 
silk  textile  put  together  badly.  Only  when  the  result  is  unsuccessful 
from  the  use  and  beauty  point  of  view  should  the  reproduction  of  silk 
damasks  and  brocades  in  cheaper  materials  be  harshly  criticised. 

There  should  be  no  real  competition  between  them.  Silk  has 
many  qualities  that  in  all  other  materials  are  not  only  inimitable  but 
even  absurd.  It  can  afford  to  help  educate  the  weavers  of  cotton  to 
the  possibilities  of  cotton. 

FABRICS  ENRICHED  WITH  GOLD 

I  have  in  this  chapter  illustrated  a  number  of  fabrics  enriched 
with  gold,  and  it  is  with  much  gratification  that  I  note  the  increased 
use  of  gold  tinsel  in  the  fabrics  of  today,  both  those  woven  for  dress 
goods  and  those  woven  for  upholstery  stocks.  Gold  skilfully  handled 
mellows  and  blends  comjjanion  colours  wonderfully.  The  highest  proof 
of  this  is  the  gold  used  in  famous  tapestries  of  the  Golden  Age,  like 
the  Mazarin  tapestry,  the  Dollfus  Crucifixion  (Plate  VIII  of  Chapter 
XIV)  and  Saint  Veronica,  formerly  in  the  Morgan  collection.  But 
ahnost  equally  inspiring  is  the  way  in  which  gold  was  used  in  the 
damasks  and  brocades  and  velvets  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  velvet  which  is  illustrated  in  Plate  XVII  is  one  of  the  most 
exquisite  creations  ever  made  in  France  and  brought  to  this  country. 
It  is  Sassanid  Persian  in  style,  one  of  the  ancient  wheel  patterns,  with 
personages  and  animals  like  those  in  Plates  III  to  VIII  of  Chapter  II. 
But  the  original  (Plate  III  of  Chapter  II),  dating  from  the  sixth 
century  A.  D.,  which  was  discovered  in  1898  in  th.e  treasury  of  the 
Church  of  Saint  Cunibert  in  Cologne,  and  is  now  preserved  in  Berlin, 
is  not  a  velvet  but  a  "damask  enriched  with  gold."  The  figuresi* 
of  the  velvet  reproduction  are  in  gold  and  red-gold  wefts  on  a  redji 
jaspe  velvet  ground,  the  redness  of  the  red  gold  being  produced  by 
bringing  more  of  the  red  warps  to  the  surface  as  binders.  The 
Byzantine  original  is  described  on  pages  70  and  71  of  Falke's  Seiden- 
weberei.  On  dark  blue  ground,  inside  the  wheels,  under  a  date  palm, 
are  two  mounted  huntsmen  with  drawn  Bows  whose  arrows  have  each 
pierced  two  animals,  a  lion  and  a  wild  ass.  Blossoms,  eagles,  hunting 
dogs,  stags  and  hares  fill  the  background.  On  the  wide-spreading 
lower  branches  of  the  palm  tree  are  clusters  of  fruit  with  blossoms 
and  leaves  of  various  shapes.    In  the  upper  branches  are  birds. 

This  modern  velvet  reproduction  illustrates  the  same  principle 

79 


Plate  XVTTI 


I'late  XIX 


Plate  XX  Plate  XXI 

MODRUN   AMERICAN  JACQUAUn  WKAVKS 
80 


Plate  XXII 


Plate  XXIII 


Plate  XXIV  Plate  XX\" 

MODERN  A.MHHICAX  JACQUARO  WKAVKS 
81 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

(but  in  the  finest  materials  and  the  most  intricate  and  exquisite  hand- 
loom  work)  that  is  illustrated  in  many  of  the  cheaper  and  simpler 
fabrics  treated  of  in  this  chapter  (notably  that  of  Plate  II) ,  and  is  an 
object  lesson  in  the  adaptation  of  ancient  ideas  effectively  to  modern 
conditions.  Upon  such  adaptations,  and  upon  the  original  ideas 
developed  with  them  as  a  background,  depends  the  textile  future  of 
this  country. 

Credit  for  illustrations:  Plates  I,  X,  XI,  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art;  Plates  VI, 
VII,  VIII,  IX,  XII,  XIII,  XIV,  XV,  XVI,  XVIII,  XXI,  XXII,  XXIV,  Plates  D  3, 
E  1  and  H,  tiie  Orinoka  Mills;  Plate  XX,  Collins  &  Aikinan;  Plates  XIX,  XXIII,  XXV, 
Stead  &  Miller. 


CHAPTER  V 

LACES 

USE,  ORIGIN,  NAME  AND  DEVELOPMENT;  MACHINE  LACES 
AND  LACE  CURTAINS 

One  of  the  modern  distinguishing  marks  of  civilisation  is  the 
use  of  laces  for  residential  and  personal  adornment.  Fifty  years  ago 
lace  curtains  were  a  luxury  in  Eiu'ope  reserved  for  the  few,  and  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  rarer  still.  Today  they  are  in  more  general 
use  in  the  United  States  than  in  any  other  country  in  the  world,  and 
every  year  sees  an  improvement  in  designs  and  also  in  texture  and 
material. 

Yet  there  are  decorators  and  architects  who  declare  themselves 
opposed  to  lace  curtains,  for  sanitary  and  decorative  reasons,  and 
seldom  or  never  employ  them  in  their  practice.  Occasionally  writers 
for  the  newspapers  even  announce  that  the  day  of  the  lace  curtain 
has  passed,  and  that  in  the  future  our  homes  will  be  comparatively  free 
not  only  from  lace  but  also  from  other  textiles  such  as  damasks, 
velvets,  brocades,  embroideries,  cretonnes,  tapestries,  carpets  and  rugs. 

Nevertheless,  the  use  of  laces  and  other  upholstery  and  drapery 
goods  continues  to  increase.  People  generally  realise  that  textiles 
are  quite  as  necessary  and  appropriate  for  the  inner  covering  of  houses 
as  for  the  outer  covering  of  bodies;  and  that,  as  far  as  sanitation  is 
concerned,  the  dust  that  is  caught  and  held  by  a  textile,  until  removed 
by  the  cleaner,  is  innocuous  as  compared  with  the  dust  which  unclothed 
walls  and  furniture  allow  to  rush  for  human  lungs  whenever  the  air 
is  set  in  motion  by  the  opening  of  door  or  window. 

From  the  decorative  point  of  view  the  use  of  openwork  textiles, 
light  alike  in  tone  and  texture,  is  highly  to  be  approved.  But,  of 
course,  the  designs  should  harmonise  with  the  other  furnishings — 
sometimes  merely  plain  net  hemmed  wide  at  the  edge,  sometimes 
elaborate   combinations   of   filet   italien,   point   de   venise,   fianders 

33 


I'hite   I— ANCMKNI    UKTK  Kl.J.A   J.ACK   ON    J)KA\VN    I.INKN 
Only  partly  (inislied  and  hence  illustrating  the  process  in  detail 


Plate  II      PIN'TO  l.\  ARIA  XEKDI.KWOHK  I.ACK 

After  it  emancipated  itself  from  the  rcticclla  freometriciil  tradition.     Note  the  vivacity  of  the 

birds  and  the  exquisite  warmth  of  the  leaves  and  flowers 


84 


LACES 

guipure,  or  even  the  geometrical  and  primitive  needlepoint  reticella. 

Especially  to  be  commended  is  the  fact  that  lace  curtains  tone 
the  light  without  quenching  it.  Nothing  is  more  ugly  or  more 
injurious  to  the  eyesight  than  the  burning  glare  and  shadow  of 
uncurtained  windows,  or  of  windows  where  the  amount  of  light  is  con- 
trolled only  by  opaque  roller  shades. 

Daylight  is  usually  bearable  out  of  doors  where  distant  vistas 
relieve  the  vision,  but  daylight  for  indoor  use  requires  quite  as  much 
skill  to  control  and  temper  as  does  artificial  light. 

THE  ORIGIX  OF  I.ACE 

At  this  point  the  question  naturally  arises :  What  is  lace  ?  How 
is  it  distinguished  from  embroidery  and  from  the  product  of  the  loom? 

The  answer,  of  course,  is:  It  isn't.  Some  lace  is  embroidery 
and  some  lace  is  produced  on  the  loom.  The  only  satisfactory  and 
complete  definition  of  lace  is: 

Openwork  made  with  needle,  or  bobbin,  or  by  knitting,  knotting, 
tatting,  or  crocheting.  Whether  the  work  is  done  by  hand  or 
machine  makes  no  difference,  except  that  the  term  real  lace  is  reserved 
for  the  hand-made  laces.  Also,  it  is  well  to  point  out  that  lace  effects 
range  from  plain  net  with  regular  meshes,  to  animal  and  human  or 
conventional  figures,  in  close  textiu*e  and  contrasting  sometimes  with 
net  ground,  sometimes  with  open  ground  that  is  intersected  only  by 
the  slender  brides  that  hold  the  motifs  together.  Also,  whilst  most 
laces  are  white  or  cream,  some  are  polychrome,  or  black,  or  gold,  or 
silver. 

The  origin  of  lace,  like  the  origin  of  most  arts,  is  hard  to  deter- 
mine. We  have  hair  and  breast  nets  that  have  been  safely  preserved 
in  the  graves  of  ancient  Egypt  since  over  a  thousand  years  before 
the  time  of  Rameses  the  Great,  who  was  Pharaoh  in  the  thirteenth 
century  B.  C.  We  have  many  plain  and  fancy  nets  of  the  Greek- 
Roman-Egyptian  type  known  as  Coptic,  dating  from  the  third  to  the 
seventh  centuries  A.  D.,  as  well  as  ancient  nets  made  in  America, 
some  of  them  on  the  loom,  with  interrupted  or  irregular  weft,  which 
have  been  preserved  in  Peruvian  graves  since  the  time  of  Columbus 
and  before. 

Nevertheless,  of  lace  as  we  know  it  the  creation  and  develop- 
ment is  due  to  Italy,  just  as  entirely  as  was  the  development  of  picture 
tapestries  due  to  the  French  Netherlands,  of  Gothic  architecture  and 

85 


^^ 


Plate  111 — Swiss  brussels  lace  mntifs   for  curtains 


\  tyiM3 


,^jHI«Mto 


^ 


\.- 


•% 


p**t!4{W!»J««*!««*J«*J^^ 


Plate  IV- On  the  right,  hroderle  anglaise   (pierced  work,  which  Is  the  simplest   form  of  out- 
work) with  reticella  centre;  on  the  left,  outwork  figure  of  man 

EXAMPLES  OF  REAL  EACE  MOTIFS 


a — Clunv  venise  lace 


1) — Filet  italien  figure  panel 


c — Filet  insertion  lace 

Plate  V— EXAMPLES  OF  UKAL  I.ACES 

87 


Plate  VI     ^•AUIO^S  TYPES  OF  CLUNY  LACK 
88 


1 — Venetian  rose  point.     2 — English  point.     3 — Argentan.     4 — Angleterre  I.ouis  XVI. 

5 — Burano  point,    fi — Alen<,'on.     7 — Venetian  rosaline.    S— Venetian 

raised  ivory  point.    9 — ^'enetian  rose  point. 


Plate  VII— EXAMPLES  OE  REAL  LACES 
89 


X-S-;; 


&A': 


!'i>« 


3>  '■•^ 


^d 


h — Bruges  lace  panel.     Similar  to   Flanders  lace  but 
finer  in  texture 


'i^^' 


it/g" 


a — Flanders  lace  panel 


Plate  VIII— EXAMPLES  OF  REAL  LACE  MOTIFS 
90 


LACES 

stained  glass  windows  to  France,  and  of  silk  to  China.  The  develop- 
ment began  in  the  fifteenth  century,  as  illustrated  in  the  paintings  of 
the  period  and  occasionally  referred  to  in  wills  and  inventories,  and 
reached  its  height  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Venice  (Plates  I,  II), 
perhaps  inspired  by  primitive  laces  and  trimmings  of  the  Roman 
Empire  of  the  East,  and  of  Sicily,  led  in  the  development  of  lace  made 
with  the  needle,  but  was  so(m  outstripped  by  Genoa  in  the  produc- 
tion of  lace  made  with  bobbins.  Another  Italian  city  famous  for 
bobbin  lace  in  the  sixteenth  century  was  Milan.  A  majority  of  the 
designs  were  outhned  in  braid  scrolls  with  openwork  edge,  held 
together  by  slender  plaited  brides.  The  Genoese  laces  largely  repro- 
duced the  styles  of  Venetian  reticella  and  other  needlepoints. 

ORIGIN   OF  THE  NAME  f 

The  history  of  the  English  word  lace  follows  closely  the  develop- 
ment of  the  fabric  in  Italy.  Before  the  sixteenth  century,  lace  meant 
fringes  and  trimmings,  and  cord  and  tape  lacings.  The  ancient  usage 
is  still  continued  in  the  laces  of  corsets,  waists  and  shoes.  (On  this 
point  consult  my  article  on  Lace  in  the  new  edition  of  the  New  Inter- 
national Encyclopaedia.) 

The  word  is  derived  from  the  Latin  laqueus,  meaning  loop  or 
noose,  which  is  also  the  meaning  of  the  derivatives,  the  French  lacs, 
the  Italian  laccio,  the  Spanish  lazo,  and  the  English  lassoo.  Equiv- 
alent to  lace  of  the  kind  that  forms  the  subject  of  this  chapter  are 
the  French  dentelle,  guipure,  point;  the  German  Spitzen  and  Kanten; 
the  Spanish  encaje;  the  Italian  trina,  merletto,  punto,  pizzo;  and  the 
Latin  opus  reticulatum  et  denticulatum.  The  French  lacis  means  net, 
and  the  French  lacet  cord  or  braid. 

EARLY  ITALIAN  LACES 

The  earliest  of  the  important  Italian  laces  were  reticella,  filet 
italien,  and  huratto.  The  first  was  a  development  of  drawn  and  cut 
work  (Plate  I),  but  the  name  was  retained  for  similar  lace  made 
with  the  needle  without  cloth  foundation.  The  designs  are  geometrical 
and  simple,  and  arranged  in  small  squares. 

When  needle  lace  so  completely  freed  itself  from  il;s  reticella  and 
cut  work  ancestry  (Plates  I,  II  and  IV)  aS  to  be  worked  in  bold 
and  irregular  patterns  like  those  of  Plate  II,  it  began  to  be  called  air 
point  (punto  in  aria),  the  highest  type  of  Venetian  laces. 


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Filet  italien  starts  with  a  coarse  hand-knotted  square-mesh  net 
foundation,  on  which  the  closed  or  toile  parts  of  the  pattern  are  darned 
in  (Plate  V  b,  c).  Buratto  is  a  woven  substitute  for  the  knotted 
net — a  square-inesh  net  made  in  gauze  weave  with  warps  that  twist 
in  pairs  around  the  wefts.  Dratctncork  net  is  made  by  drawing  the 
alternate  threads  of  scrim  or  etamine,  and  binding  the  intersections 
with  the  needle. 

BOBBIN  VERSUS  NEEDLE 

Bobbin  lace  (Plate  VI)  like  punto  in  aria  is  made  on  a  pillow 
carrying  the  pattern  that  guides  the  worker;  but  instead  of  being 
made  with  a  needle  that  in  buttonhole  stitch  ties  together  the  dif- 
ferent outline  threads,  it  is  made  with  numerous  bobbins  that  twist 
together  or  plait  the  threads  without  the  limitations  imposed  by  the 
loom,  or  by  the  needle.  Moreover,  bobbin  lace  is  much  less  expen- 
sive to  make  than  needlepoint. 

The  German  claim  to  the  invention  of  bobbin  lace  is  not  sup- 
ported by  the  facts,  although  in  1834  at  Annaberg,  in  the  Hartz 
Mountains,  a  monument  was  erected  to  "Barbara  Uttmann,  died  Jan- 
uary 14,  1575;  inventor  in  1567  of  bobbin-made  lace  which  made  her 
the  benefactress  of  the  neighborhood."  Already  in  1560  the  author 
of  the  text  of  a  book  of  bobbin-lace  designs  published  by  Froschower 
at  Zurich  had  said:  "From  among  the  divers  arts  invented  and  prac- 
tised for  the  good  of  lumianity,  we  wish  to  mention  the  art  of  making 
bobbin  lace  which  arose  in  our  country  about  twenty-five  years  ago 
and  quickly  took  root  amongst  us.  It  was  imported  into  Germany 
from  Italy  for  the  first  time  by  Venetian  merchants  in  1536." 

Especially  interesting  is  the  comparison  the  same  writer  makes 
between  needle  and  bobbin  lace.    He  says: 

"AVhen,  years  ago,  the  method  of  trapunto  and  relief  was  m 
vogue,  there  is  no  telling  how  nuich  time  was  taken  in  making  a  collar 
or  bib  or  anything  of  the  sort,  joined  to  heavy  expense  to  the  person 
by  whom  it  was  ordered.  On  the  contrary,  now,  a  bobbin  lace  may 
be  acquired  for  little  money  and  in  much  less  time,  because  the  cost 
of  production  is  so  much  reduced.  Formerly,  too,  collars  and  other 
articles  were  adorned  with  threads  of  gold  and  coloured  silk,  occasion- 
ing vast  expense  and  trouble  in  cleaning  or  washing  with  soap;  now 
all  this  is  reformed  and  trimmings  are  of  thread  capable  of  resisting 
the  wear  and  tear  of  the  wash  tub." 

95 


Plate  XI\' — Aliove,  filet  antique;   below,  inachiiie  Clu 


"y 


Plate  X\'— On  the  left,  modern  "Arabian"  lace;  on  the  right,  schiffle  lace  motif 

EXAMPLES  OF  REAL  LACE  MOTIFS 

96 


LACES 

FRENCH  AND  FLEMISH  LACES 

The  early  Venetian  laces  were  flat,  and  not  till  about  1640  did 
rose  points  (raised  points)  with  corded  and  relief  effects  begin  to  be 
made  (Plate  VII,  7,  8,  9).  Those  of  boldest  design  and  highest 
relief  are  called  gros  jjoints  de  venise.  About  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century  Flanders  began  to  be  a  lively  competitor  of  Italy  in 
tlie  making  of  lace;  and  soon  after,  France  attempted  to  follow  suit. 
Hem-i  111  (1.57.5-89)  appointed  a  Venetian,  Frederic  Vinciolo,  court 
pattei'mnaker  of  linen  embroideries  and  laces,  and  some  of  his  designs 
were  published  in  book  form.  Finally,  in  the  last  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV,  the  importation  into 
France  of  Italian  and  Flemish  laces  was  forbidden,  and  Venetian  lace 
workers  were  secured  to  help  develop  the  industry  at  Alen^on,  Arras, 
Rheims,  and  other  centres.  These  French  imitations  were  called 
points  de  France  (Plate  VII,  3,  6) .  The  Alen9on  designs  were  more 
fanciful,  and  less  severe,  than  tlie  Italian  ones,  and  were  widely  copied 
by  the  Flemish  makers.  IJoth  French  and  Flemish  laces  laid  par- 
ticular emphasis  on  fineness  of  thread  and  delicacy  of  texture,  thus 
leading  taste  away  from  the  standards  that  had  made  Italian  laces 
famous  and  beautiful. 

About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  centurj'  the  Flemish  guipure 
bobbin  laces  with  bride  grounds  (Plate  VIII  a,  b)  began  to  be  called 
points  de  jiandres  ("Flemish  lace,"  now  called  Flanders  or  Bruges); 
while  the  scroll  patterns  on  net  ground  were  designated  as  points 
d'Angleterre.  Among  Flemish  cities  of  high  reputation  for  indi- 
viduality in  bobbin  lace  was  Mechlin,  with  its  hexagonal  mesh  and 
corded  efi'ects,  and  Brussels  with  an  even  more  elaborate  hexagonal 
mesh  and  with  naturalistic  designs  based  on  needlepoint  Alen^on. 
The  English  Honiton  is  a  simpler  and  cruder  form  of  Brussels. 

Most  of  the  hand-made  laces  used  in  American  interior  decora- 
tive work  come  from  France  and  Belgium,  and  most  of  the  machine 
laces  from  France  and  England.  AVhile  the  laces  made  at  Burano 
(Plate  VII,  5),  a  suburb  of  Venice,  where  the  industry,  was  revived 
about  forty  years  ago,  are  worthy  of  the  best  traditions  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance,  they  are  too  expensive  for  most  modern  drapery  work. 

MACHINE  LACES 

The  first  lace  machine  was  based  on  Lee's  stocking  machine,  as 
modified  by  Strutt  and  Frost  in  1764  to  produce  net.    By  1769  Frost 

97 


.t 


y 


Plate  XVI — On  the  left,  reticella  needle  lace;  on  the  right,  schiffle 
imitation  reticella  lace 


Plate  XVII— On  the  left,  Cluny  venise  lace;  on  the  right, 
Russian  drawnwork 


EXAMPLES  OF  REAL  LACE  MOTIES 


98 


LACES 

was  able  to  make  figured  net,  and  by  1777  net  witb  square  meshes 
that  were  fast.  The  second  lace  machine  is  the  warp  frame,  so  called 
because  for  each  warp  thread  there  was  an  individual  needle  which 
loojjcd  the  thread  first  to  the  right  and  then  to  the  left.  By  1795  this 
machine  produced  plain  net  and  soon  afterwards  figured  net  in  an 
almost  endless  variety  of  meshes  and  patterns.  The  third  lace  machine, 
brought  to  perfection  by  continued  improvements  during  the  past 
century,  is  the  so-called  Leavers  machine,  originated  by  John  Heath- 
coat  (1809)  and  John  Leavers  (1813).  The  application  to  the 
Leavers  machine  of  the  jacquard  attachment  (see  Development  of 
the  Loom  in  Chapter  I )  vastly  increased  the  range  and  intricacy  of  " 
patterns  possible,  and  the  operation  by  water  and  later  by  steam  and 
electric  power  vastly  increased  the  speed  and  quantity  produced.  In 
the  Leavers  machine  warp  threads  and  bobbin  threads  are  used,  some- 
times more  than  9,000,  making  69  pieces  of  lace  at  once,  each  piece 
requiring  100  warp  and  48  bobbin  threads.  The  warp  threads  are 
stretched  perpendicularly  (as  on  the  tapestry  and  Oriental  rug  high- 
warp  loom),  just  far  enough  apart  to  achnit  the  passage  between 
edgewise,  of  a  twenty-five  cent  piece.  The  bobbins  are  so  fiat  and  thin 
that  they  pass  without  difticidty.  Ingenious  mechanism  varies  the 
tension  of  warp  and  weft  threads  as  desirable.  As  the  bobbins  swing 
like  pendulums  through  the  warp  threads,  they  are  made  to  vacillate 
and  twist  around  the  warps,  and  the  twistings  are  driven  home  by 
combs.  If  the  bobbin  threads  are  held  taut  and  the  warp  threads 
loose,  the  warps  will  twist  on  the  bobbin  threads,  and  vice  versa. 
Whilst  many  of  the  laces  and  nets  and  nottiugham  lace  curtains 
made  on  the  Leavers  and  the  lace  curtain  machines  are  exceedingly 
attractive,  their  imitation  of  real  lace  is  far  surpassed  by  the  new 
Xottingham  circular  lace  machine  which  produces  cluny  insertions 
and  edgings  that  are  in  every  way  identical  with  those  of  hand-made 
cluny  (Plate  XIV).  *         "  ' 

The  most  important  embroidery  machines  used  to  make  laces  are 
the  hand-embroidery  machine  that  nudtiplies  automatically  the  work 
of  the  operator  who  executes  the  master  pattern,  and  the  schiffle  or 
power  embroideri/  machine  that  employs  shuttle  as  well  as  needle  and 
has  an  output  many  times  hn-ger  than  that  of  the  hand  machine.  On 
these  two  machines  are  made  the  world's  imitations  of  rose  point  and 
gros  jioint  laces,  and  to  machine  nets  are  added  embroidery  effects  of 
the  most  pleasing  type  (Plate  XVIII) .  The  open-ground  laces  made 

99 


2,   3,   4,    6,    7,   8,   S),    figured    in    the    weaving;    1,    5,    embroidered    with   the 
schiifle  machine.     (Reproduced  at  actual  size) 

Plate  XVIII— GROUP  OF  MODERN  FANXY  NETS 


100 


LACES 

oil  tlie  schiffle  machine  are  embroidered  on  a  silk  or  woollen  ground 
that  is  rotted  away  chemically  after  weaving,  leaving  the  boldest 
possible  guipure  effects  (Plates  VII  a  and  VIII  a). 

The  honnaz  machine  is  used  principally  in  the  making  of  the 
so-called  stciss  lace  curtains.  There  are  also  sewing  machines  that 
produce  a  buttonhole  edging  and  drawnwork  effects. 

Most  machine  laces  are  made  of  cotton,  thus  rendering  it  easy  to 
distinguish  them  from  real  laces  that  are  usually  made  of  linen. 

Fifteen  years  ago  nottingham  one-piece  lace  curtains,  in  large 
scroll  designs,  most  of  which  were  bad,  were  the  bread-and-butter  of 
American  drapery  departments.  Ruffled  and  fluted  nmslins,  and 
novelty  curtains  with  nottingham  laces  applied  as  insertions  and  edg- 
ings on  ruffled  and  plain  nets,  were  carried  for  the  better  trade,  but 
for  the  jioorer  residences  and  for  all  hotels  of  every  class  the  notting- 
ham was  the  thing.  Xow  the  old-style  nottingham  is  welcome 
nowhere,  and  the  nottingham  manufacturer,  American  as  well  as 
English,  is  rapidly  becoming  merely  a  supplier  of  raw  materials  to 
the  converter.  Of  course,  I  should  add  that  for  many  years  prac- 
tically all  of  the  nottingham  lace  curtains  used  in  America  have  been 
made  in  America.  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
first  nottingham  lace  machine  to  come  to  America  was  set  up  at  Ford- 
ham,  in  New  York  City,  in  1885. 

VARIETIES  OF  I-ACE  CURTAINS 

The  principal  varieties  of  lace  curtains  are: 

( 1 )  French  Lace  Curtains. — A  general  name  for  those 
made  with  real  lace  mounted  on  machine  net,  or  on  silk,  or  on  scrim, 
as  well  as  for  the  few  that  are  made  entirely  of  real  lace. 

(2)  Xottingham  Lace  Curtains. — A  general  name  for  those 
woven  in  one  piece  on  the  lace  curtain  machine,  usually  with  an 
embroidered  buttonhole  edging  added  after  weaving  and  sometimes 
with  an  applique  cord,  as  in  the  once  popular  "corded  arabians." 

(3)  Swiss  Lace  Curtains. — A  general  name  for  those  made 
by  embroidering  designs  with  the  honnaz  sewing  machine  on  machine 
net.  The  principal  varieties  are  tambour,  brussels,  applique  and  irish 
point.  The  tambours  are  so  called  from  the  embroidery  frame  that 
formerly  held  the  net  while  the  embroidery  was  put  in  by  hand  with 
the  crochet  hook.  The  brussels  have  the  field  of  figures  filled  in  with 
bonnaz  stitch  of  finer  yarn   (Plate  III).     The  appliques  have  thin 

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muslin  appliques  filling  the  ground  of  the  figures.  The  irish  points 
have  openwork  spiders  in  addition  to  the  muslin  appliques.  Besides 
these  four  varieties  there  are  numerous  etamine,  double  net  and 
coloured  novelties,  many  of  them  in  architectural  and  period  designs. 

(4)  Madkas  and  Otiieu  Gauze  and  Fancy  ^yKAAT,s. — Made 
on  a  gauze  loom  with  openwork  effects.  In  gauze  weave  ( Plate  PI  of 
Chapter  IV)  the  warps  twist  in  jjairs  around  the  wefts,  making  pos- 
sible the  production  of  extremely  lacy  effects.  Madras  has  broche 
figiu'es  with  the  floats  trimmed  off.  Polychrome  madras  has  been 
succeeded  in  popularity  by  the  creams  and  ecrus.  Crete  is  heavier 
than  madras  and  has  an  etamine  instead  of  a  gauze  ground.  Also 
the  cut  side  is  the  right  side  of  madras  but  the  wrong  side  of  crete. 

(5)  NovEETY  Lace  Curtains. — A  general  name  for  all  kinds 
of  effects  produced  without  the  use  of  real  lace,  by  the  application  and 
insertion  of  nottingham  and  other  machine  laces  and  braids  on  net,  or 
scrim,  or  muslin ;  sometimes,  but  rarely  now,  with  ruffled  net  or  muslin 
or  cretonne  edging.  The  once  popular  renaissance  laces  made  in 
imitation  of  Flanders  and  Bruges  lace  (Plate  VIII)  by  tacking 
together  woven  braid  with  brides  and  spiders  have  now  practically 
disappeared  from  the  shops;  even  the  arabian  motifs  made  in  imita- 
tion of  the  hand-made  arabe  lace  (Plate  XV)  by  using  corded  braid 
ai'e  also  being  crowded  out.  Princess  lace,  like  renaissance,  starts 
with  woven  tape  but  is  of  finer  quality  and  has  more  hand-work  intro- 
duced. Scrim,  especially  the  better  qualities  with  drawnwork  effects, 
is  constantly  increasing  in  popularity,  and  constantly  the  quality  of 
net  demanded  by  even  the  cheaper  trade  is  improving. 

I  would  sum  uj)  by  saying  that  all  laces,  machine  as  well  as  hand, 
divide  into  two  great  classes :  ( 1 )  those  made  with  the  needle  or 
crotchet  hook,  (2)  and  those  made  with  the  bobbin  or  otherwise;  that 
is  to  say,  ( 1 )  those  sewed  or  embroidered,  ( 2 )  those  plaited  or  woven, 
or  knotted,  or  knitted,  or  tatted. 

Credit  for  illustrations:  Plates  I  to  XVIII,  John  F.  Patching  &  Co.;  Plate  XIX,  Bromlev 
Mfg.  Co.  and  Patohogue  Mfg.  Co.;  Plate  XX,  Quaker  Eaee  Co.;  Plates  XXI  1  and  2,  E.  C. 
Carter  &  Co.;  Plate  XXI  3,  I.oeb  &  Schoenfeld. 


CHAPTER  VI 

EMBROIDERIES 

Origin-,   Byzantine   Roman,    Sicilian,   Engi-ish,   Flemish, 
Florentine,  American,  East  Indian,  Chinese 

Most  of  the  embroideries  made  today  are  either  copies  of  ancient 
ones,  some  intended  for  sale  as  antiques,  or  conventionalised  patterns 
produced  in  quantity  on  the  bonnaz  or  the  schiffle  machine.  This  is 
so  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  in  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century 
such  distinguished  artists  as  William  Morris,  Burne-Jones  and 
Walter  Crane  supplied  English  embroiderers  with  original  designs. 
However,  too  much  cannot  be  said  in  praise  of  some  of  the  petit  point 
and  crewel  work  now  being  done  by  hand  in  England.  It  is  faithful 
in  spirit  as  well  as  in  letter  to  ancient  traditions,  and,  like  the  best 
work  of  old,  is  based  on  or  adapted  from  ancient  models.  In  the 
United  States  there  has  been  a  remarkable  development  of  schiffle 
work  since  the  war  began. 

Embroidery  is  the  art  of  ornamenting  cloth  and  other  materials 
with  the  needle.  But  embroidery  on  net  and  cutwork  belongs  with 
lace.  Embroidery  was  probably  applied  to  skins  almost  as  soon  as 
needle  and  thong  were  tirst  employed  to  join  pieces  of  skin  together 
into  garments.  The  Laplanders  embroider  their  reindeer-skin  cloth- 
ing with  needle  of  reindeer  bone,  thread  of  reindeer  sinew,  and 
applique  of  strips  of  hide.  Among  the  primitive  tribes  of  Central 
Africa  the  girls  embroider  skins  with  figures  of  flowers  and  animals, 
supplementing  the  effect  with  shells  and  feathers. 

Of  the  textiles  of  ancient  Babylon  and  Assyria,  no  fragments 
have  survived.  But  the  Nineveh  mural  reliefs  in  the  British  Museum 
show  Assyrian  robes  with  both  geometrical  and  floral  ornaments,  and 
the  famous  relief  now  in  the  Louvre  from  the  palace  of  the  Persian 
king,  Darius  I  (485-321  B.  C),  shows  robes  with  diaper  patterns. 
These  ornaments,  like  those  of  the  hangings  of  the  Jewish  tabernacle 
106 


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EMBROIDERIES 

described  in  the  Book  of  Exodus,  may  all  have  been  tapestry  but  it  is 
probable  that  most  of  them  wex'e  embroidery. 

Among  the  ancient  Greek  textiles  exhumed  from  Crimean 
graves  are  both  tapestries  and  embroideries  now  preserved  in  the 
Hermitage  at  Petrograd.  One  of  the  embroideries  attributed  to  the 
fourth  century  B.  C.  is  in  coloured  wools  on  wool,  and  shows  a  cavalier 
with  honeysuckle  ornament.  Another  piece  has  a  stem,  and  arrow- 
head leaves,  richly  and  elegantly  worked  in  gold. 

Martial,  in  the  first  century  A.  D.,  writes  that  the  embroideries 
of  Babylon  have  been  driven  out  of  fashion  by  the  tapestries  of 
Egypt  (victa  est  pectine  Niliaco  iam  liahylonis  acus).  The  common 
Roman  name  for  embroidering  was  "painting  with  the  needle"  (acu 
pingere).  Virgil  uses  it  in  speaking  of  the  decoration  of  robes,  and 
Ovid  describes  it  as  an  art  taught  bj^  Minerva.  Pliny  says  that  the 
first  mention  of  embroidered  garments  (pictas  vestes)  is  in  Homer, 
and  that  the  Phrygians  were  the  first  to  ornament  robes  with  the 
needle,  which  is  why  they  are  called  Phnigioniae.  He  adds  that  gold- 
embroidered  garments  were  named  Attalicae  from  Attains  II,  King 
of  Perganmm  (159-138  B.  C),  to  whom  he  wrongly  attributes  the 
invention  of  the  art  of  embroidering  in  gold. 

The  oldest  large  collections  of  ancient  textiles  are  those  called 
Coptic  because  executed  in  Egypt  from  the  third  to  the  eighth  cen- 
turies. Such  collections  exist  in  the  Metrojjolitan  Museum  of  New 
York,  and  in  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  as  well  as  in 
numerous  European  museums.  Most  of  the  designs  are  Roman  in 
style  and  show  birds,  animals  and  human  figures,  vases,  fruit,  flowers 
and  foliage,  besides  geometrical  and  interlacing  ornament.  But  most 
of  these  are  tapestry-figured,  only  a  few  of  them  having  part  of  the 
ornament  outlined  in  embroidery. 

BYZAXTIXK  ROMAN 

The  most  extraordinary  example  of  Byzantine  Roman  embroid- 
ery that  is  still  preserved  is  the  "dalmatic  of  Charlemagne"  in  the 
sacristy  of  Saint  Peter's  at  Rome  (Plate  II).  The  ground  is  of 
purplish-blue  satin.  The  garment  is  said  to  have  been  worn  by 
Charlemagne  when,  vested  as  deacon,  he  sang  the  Gospel  at  high  mass 
on  the  day  the  Pope  crowned  him  Emperor  (Christmas  Day,  A.  D. 
800).  On  the  front  is  shown  the  youthful  Christ  enthroned  with 
saints  below  and  angels  above ;  on  the  back,  the  Transfiguration.    The 

109 


Plate  III— TWO  FRAGMENTS  OF  THK  13AYEUX  TAPESTRY 
The  most  famous  embroidery  in  the  world 


no 


Plate  I\'-"J()HX  TIIK  BAPTIST" 

One  of  tlie  "Gi)Ulen   Kleece"  embroideries, 

the  most  magnificent  set  in  existence 


-'''■  ^^ 


Plate  V — Seventeenth  century  embroidered  panel 


111 


'Birth  of  Jolin  the  IJaptist" 


"Herodias  Keceives  the  Head  of  John  tlio  Baptist" 


Plate  VI— TWO  OF  A  SET  OF  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY 
FLORENTINE  EMBROIDERIES 


Plate  VII— RENAISSANCE  COUCHED  KMBllOIDEHY 

112 


(^a)      Tlic  'I'riuiiiiih  (iT  rrulc.-.laiilisiii   with   Iloiiry   \"I1I   on   the  throne 


(b)     Philip  II  of  Spain  and  his  wife.  Queen  Mary  of  England 
Plate  VIII— ENGLISH  RENAISSANCE  EMBROIDERIES 

113 


Plate  IX — Knglish  crewel  work  of  tlie  seventeenth  century 


/^ 


I'late  X      I'.nglish  cu.sliion  cover  in  I'lvwels 

Embroidered  in  coloured  worsteds  on  flat  twill  ground 

Modern  reproduction 


114 


EMBROIDERIES 

embroidery  is  mostly  in  gold,  the  draperies  being  executed  in  basket 
weave  and  laid  stitches.  The  faces  are  in  white  silk  split-stitch,  flat 
and  outlined  in  black  silk.  The  hair,  the  shadowy  part  of  the  draperies, 
and  the  clouds  are  in  especially  fine  gold  and  sih^er- thread  with  dark 
outlines.  A  noteworthy  feature  of  the  patterned  background  is  the 
crosses  inside  of  circles. 

SICILIAN 

In  the  twelfth  century  the  Sicilian  city  of  Palermo,  under 
the  Normans,  rivalled  Byzantium  (Constantinople)  as  the  world's 
embroidery  and  weave  centre.  The  styles  were  largely  Saracenic 
because  of  the  many  Mohammedan  workmen  employed.  One  of  the 
magnificent  coronation  robes  at  Vienna,  embroidered  in  gold  with  a 
date  palm,  and  two  lions  attacking  camels,  and  enriched  with  pearls 
and  tiny  enamelled  plaques,  bears  an  Arabic  inscription  stating  that 
it  was  made  in  the  royal  factory  at  Palermo  in  the  year  528  (A.  D. 
1130).  Another  of  the  coronation  robes  bears  an  inscription  in  both 
Arabic  and  I^atin  stating  that  it  was  made  in  the  city  of  Palermo  in 
A.  D.  1181. 

BAYEUX  TAPESTRY 

The  most  famous  and  best-known  embroidery  in  the  world  is 
the  so-called  Bayeux  tapestry,  which  is  not  a  tapestry  at  all,  but  a 
band  of  linen  2H0  feet  long  embroidered  in  coloured  wools  with  the 
stoiy  of  the  Xorman  conquest  of  England  (Plate  III).  The  earliest 
mention  of  this  embroidery  is  found  in  1476  in  the  inventory  of  the 
cathedral  of  Bayeux,  the  walls  of  the  nave  of  which  it  exactly  equals 
in  lengtlK  It  is  now  kept  framed  and  glazed  in  a  building  erected 
especially  for  it,  and  has  been  removed  from  Bayeux  only  once,  by  the 
command  of  Xaj^oleon  for  exhibition  in  Paris.  Tradition  says  that  it 
was  the  work  of  Queen  Matilda,  the  wife  of  William  the  Conqueror, 
but  others  think  it  was  made  for  his  granddaughter,  the  Empress 
Matilda,  and  still  others  that  it  was  made  on  order  of  Bishop  Odo  for 
the  decoration  of  his  cathedral  of  Bayeux,  which  was  rebuilt  in  1077. 
At  any  rate,  the  embroidery  is  an  historical  as  well  as  an  embroidery 
-document  of  prime  importance.  Light  and  shade  are  entirely 
neglected  and  distance  effects  are  secured  by  contrast  of  line  and 
colour,  a  green  horse,  for  example,  having  his  off  legs  red,  a  yellow 
horse  having  them  blue.  The  figures  are  filled  with  threads  laid  flat 
side  by  side  and  bound  at  intervals  by  cross-stitches,  the  seams,  joints 

115 


■■^» 


Plate  XI— A  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  SPANISH  COPE 
With  elaborate  gold-embroidered  orphrey 


a^^s^vN 


Plate  XII— LOUIS  X\  1  I'lCTLUES 
Embroidered  in  chenille  and  silk 


116 


ft    t 


'^ 


\^- 


vaTv'.V 


■  -1     i 


fmmi^m  !■  di  *  jyiP-nk.'t'Jt^y^K  v" 


I'latc  XIU      A.NCIKN  i    I.XtJI.lSH   KMBUOIDKKIKS  I'OK  I'LUNITUKE  COVKKINC: 


IIT 


ot; 

O  " 


<  o 

x£ 
o 


L-OSS 


*l?.l^>' 

.i>- 


f- 


Plate  XVI — Petit  point  iiillow  top  with  silver  wire 

St.  Peter  with  keys,  the  cocl<  on  the  colunin  behind  him 

Modern  reproduction 


Plate  XVII — Chinese  monogram  designed  and  embroid- 
ered  with   bonnaz   niacliine,    for   use   on   a   Chinese   chair 
Made  in  America 


Plate  XV— (At  left  and  right): 

English  bell  pulls  in. the  Chinese  Cliippendale  style 

Modern  reproductions 


119 


Plate  XVIII — Bench  cover  in  petit  point  on  gros  point,  English  Chinese  style 
Modern  reproduction 


Plate  XIX — Charles  II  sofa  covered  witli  ancient  petit  point  embroidery 

EMBROIDERED  FURNITURE  COVERINGS 

120 


EMUROIDKHIES 

and  folds  being  indicated  in  twist.  The  faces  and  hands  are  merely 
outlines.  The  first  of  the  two  scenes  illustrated  shows  Harold  and 
his  men  riding  to  IJosham  (eqvitant  ad  Bosham).  Harold,  mounted 
with  falcon  and  dogs,  approaches  the  church  (ecclesia).  The  scene 
below  shows  William  and  his  army  crossing  the  Channel  and  arriving 
at  Pevensey  (et  vcnit  ad  Pevenesae). 

ENGIJSH,  FLEMISH  AND  FLORENTINE 

In  the  library  of  the  English  cathedral  of  Worcester  are  frag- 
ments of  thirteenth  century  gold  embroidery  on  silk  taken  from  the 
coffins  of  two  of  the  bishops,  besides  other  similar  fragments  in  the 
British  Museum  and  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum.  At  this 
period,  English  sacred  embroidery  was  so  famous  that  we  find  it  con- 
stantly appearing  in  the  inventories  of  western  Europe  as  "de  opere 
anglicano."  The  most  splendid  example  that  has  survived  is  the 
Syon  cope,  now  exhibited  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum.  The 
embroidered  medallions  show  Christ  on  the  cross,  Christ  and  Mary 
Magdalen,  Christ  and  Thomas,  the  death  of  the  Virgin,  the  corona- 
tion of  the  Virgin,  Saint  Michael,  and  the  Twelve  Apostles,  whilst 
the  spaces  between  the  medallions  are  occupied  by  winged  cherubim. 
The  ground  of  the  cope  is  embroidered  in  green  silk,  the  medallions 
in  red  and  the  figures  are  worked  in  gold,  silver  and  coloured  silks. 
The  lower  border  and  the  orphrey,  with  its  coats-of-arms,  are  of 
later  date. 

At  the  head  of  all  embroideries,  however,  stands  the  set  of  vest- 
ments and  altar  hangings  in  Vienna  associated  with  the  Order  of  the 
Golden  Fleece  that  was  founded  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century  by  the  Burgundian  ruler  of  Flanders,  Duke  Philip  the  Good. 
About  the  identity  of  these  embroideries  there  is  not  the  slightest 
doubt,  as  they  were  recorded  in  detail  in  the  inventory  of  the  treas- 
ury of  the  Golden  Fleece  made  in  1477.  I  have  selected  for  illus- 
tration the  one  that  pictures  Saint  John  the  Baptist  (Plate  IV). 

Plate  VI  illustrates  two  Florentine  embroideries  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  part  of  a  John  the  Baptist  set,  designed  by  the  famous 
painter  Antonio  del  PoUaiuolo  and  still  preserved  in  the  Florence 
cathedral.  The  illustration  makes  clear  the  details  of  the  technique, 
and  especially  the  way  in  which  the  horizontal  threads  are  couched. 
The  scene  on  the  left  shows  the  birth  of  John  the  Baptist;  the  one 
on  the  right,  the  delivery  of  his  head  to  Herodias.    The  illustration  on 

121 


J 

Q 
a 

a 


■Ti 

y. 
o 


a 

35 


Of 

o 


y. 


Plate  XXI — Kire  screen  |)aiielle<l   in   I.ouis  XIV 
petit  point 


Plate  XXII — Seventeenth  century  Italian  embroidered  altar  frontal 


133 


t4 
a 
o 

H 
Q 

a 
a 


a  c 


O.S 
D  ° 

OS 

H  s 


The  Judgment  of  Paris 


r 


^-  ^iV 


English  Pearly  Stumpwork 
Plate  XXIV— SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  ENGLISH  STUMPWORK 

135 


ms^xmsiti.. 


give  a 
SmeF 


Plate  XXV — Furniture  covering  designed  and  embroidered  by 
an  Englishwoman 


Plate  XXVI— Pillows  embroidered  with  wool.     Designed 
and  executed  by  Mrs.  Bunting 


126 


EMBROIDERIES 

Plate  VII  is  of  a  Renaissance  embroidery  lent  to  the  Cincinnati 
Museum  by  Mrs.  Ida  E.  Nipj^ert.  The  technique  of  the  work  is 
worthy  of  all  praise,  and  the  design  is  interesting.  The  Virgin,  with 
unicorn,  sits  in  the  closed  garden  (ortus  conclvsvs),  while  the  Angel 
Gabriel,  with  four  do'^s  on  leash  (Mercy,  Peace,  Justice  and  Truth), 
blows  his  horn  outside  and  the  prophet  in  the  distance  announces  Ecce 
Virgo  concipiet,  the  whole  story  being  announced  in  the  Latin 
captions.  The  portraitiu'e  of  the  Virgin  and  saints  in  the  frieze  above 
is  of  extraordinary  merit.  A  Spanish  Renaissance  armorial  applique 
embroidery  is  illustrated  on  Plate  XXVIII. 

ENGLISH  REXAISSANCE  AND  LATER 

Plate  VIII  illustrates  English  picture  embroideries  of  the  last 
half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  upper  one  from  the  collection  of 
the  Corporation  of  Maidstone,  the  lower  one  a  petit  point  in  the 
Metropolitan  Museum.  The  upper  one  is  interesting  though  ci'ude 
and  rei^resents  the  Triumph  of  Protestantism,  Henry  VIII  being 
seated  in  the  middle  with  his  foot  on  the  neck  of  the  Pope,  whilst 
Edward  VI  stands  on  the  left  and  Elizabeth  on  the  right.  On  the 
extreme  left  is  Mary  pictiu-ed  as  the  Papist  Queen.  The  subject  of 
the  lower  embroidery  on  Plate  VIII  has  been  variously  identified  but 
seems  to  me  to  be  probably  Philip  II  of  Spain  and  his  wife.  Queen 
Mary  of  England. 

An  English  synonym  of  worsted  yarns  used  in  embroidery  is 
crewels  (Plate  IX).  An  excellent  reproduction  of  old  English  crewel 
work  is  shown  on  Plate  X.  The  bell  pulls  in  the  Chinese  Chippendale 
style  on  Plate  XV  are  also  modern  reproductions.  I  had  hoped  also 
to  illustrate  a  modern  reproduction  of  one  of  the  famous  Hatton 
Garden  set  of  crewel  draperies  but  was  disappointed.  There  are  six 
of  these  draperies  7  feet  9  inches  high  by  4  feet  wide,  each  named 
after  the  animal  pictured  at  the  bottom.  They  were  made  in  the  last 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  have  great  dignity  because  of  the 
architectiu'al  backoround  of  colunms  and  arches,  and  great  grace 
because  of  the  birds  and  floriation.  The  canvas  ground  is  completely 
hidden  by  the  coloured  wool  embroidery.  ^Vhen  these  precious 
embroideries  were  discovered  a  few  years  ago,  they  had  been  hidden 
for  generations  behind  an  accumulation  of  wall  papers. 

Excellent  modern  reproductions  of  old  English  petit  jwint  are 
those  on  Plates  XVI  and  XVIII,  the  former  enriched  with  silver 

127 


Hand  embroidery  in  silk  on  sateen. 


.Miuliinc  embroidery  in  metal  a])])li(iHe  on  veloiir 
I'late  XXVII— ART  EMBROIDEKIES  MADE  IN  AMERICA 

138 


sssi3(fij3»iss::viv 


Plate  XXIX— SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  SPANISH 
CHASUBLE 

Gold   picture  embroidery  on   velvet 


Plate  XXX     lil.XAISSANCK  APPLIQUE  EMBROIDEKY  ON  DAMASK 
Made  by  hand  in  America 


130 


i  ^  ^  .-^i 


L»K.,, 


-J 


Si 

■Ji 

a 
o 


1^ 


^^Muu%m%m 


Plate  XXXII— EMBROIDERY  FROM   INDIA 
Ancient  Chumlm  work,  alike  on  both  sides 


Plate  XXXIII— DECORATED  BULGARIAN  SCARF 


EMBROIDERIES 

wire  and  showing  Saint  Peter  with  his  keys,  whilst  the  cock  that 
crowed  thrice  perches  on  the  cohnnn  hehind  liini.  The  latter  is  a 
hench  cover  in  petit  point  on  gro.s  point,  and  in  the  English  Chinese 
style  of  the  eighteenth  century.  An  English  petit  point  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  is  illustrated  on  Plate  XIX. 

The  jacquard  woven  reproductions  of  old  embroideries  on  Plate 
XX  are  not  mere  imitations  hut  have  a  technical  merit  of  their  own, 
less  undoubtedly  than  that  of  the  needle,  but  still  interesting.  The 
one  in  the  upper  left  corner  is  after  an  Elizabethan  Gothic  original; 
the  one  in  the  upper  right  corner  shows  a  German  bear  hunt;  the 
lower  two  are  crewel  reproductions,  the  left  one  on  silk. 

AMERICAN,  EAST  IXDIAN  AND  CHINESE 

Among  the  best  executed  art  embroideries  made  in  America  are 
those  illustrated  on  Plate  XXVII.  The  one  above  is  hand  work  in 
silk  on  sateen;  the  one  below,  bonnaz  work  in  metal  applique  on 
velours.  Plate  XXV  shows  a  Renaissance  embroidery  made  by  hand, 
also  in  America.  Plate  XVII  shows  a  Chinese  shou  or  monogram 
embroidered  on  velours  by  the  bonnaz  machine  with  its  artful  trail 
of  Vs. 

Plate  XXXI  illustrates  one  of  those  samplers  the  making  of 
which  taught  so  many  of  our  fair  Colonial  forebears  to  write  and  spell 
and  draw.  The  lady  resjjonsible  for  this  one  signs  herself  Mary  E. 
Bulger.  If  the  sampler  habit  were  revived,  it  would  do  more  for 
the  art  of  embroidery  than  can  in  any  other  way  be  accomplished. 

India  (Plates  XXXII  and  XXXV)  has  long  been  famous  for 
the  silk  and  cotton  embroideries  that  are  part  of  the  costume  of  almost 
every  native.  The  most  famous  are  those  of  Kashmir.  Excellent  in 
design  and  workmanship  are  the  phulkaries  from  the  Punjab  and 
the  Ilazara  frontier.  The  colours  of  the  Cutch  phulkaries  are  particu- 
larly attractive.  The  tinsel  embroidered  stuffs  of  Delhi,  Agra  and 
Madras  are  used  for  gowns,  draperies,  bed  and  table  covers,  cushion 
and  pillow  covers.  Most  Cashmere  (Kashmir)  shawls  are  embroid- 
eries in  wool.  Rugs  richly  end)roidered  with  gold  and  silver  are 
made  at  Benares  and  Murshidabad. 

The  Chinese  ( Plate  XXXVI )  are  perhaps  the  most  labourious 
and;  elaborate  hand  embroiderers,  principally  in  silk  combined  with 
gold  jind  silver  tinsel.  Sometimes  the  figures  of  men,  horses  and 
dragons  are  outlined  in  gold  cord  and  filled  up  with  shaded  silk.    The 

133 


Plate  XXXIV— SIXTKEXTH  CENTURY  EMBHOIDKRED  PEUSIAX  COVER 

Patterned  like  a  riiir  of  the  jieriod 


Plate   XXXV— A   SIND   BAG 
With  tiny  mirrors  applique 


131 


Plate  XXXVI-CHINESE  RIGHTKKXTH  CENTURY  EMBROIDERY 
Picturing  the  emperor  Kien-lunjj  witli  his  empress  and  their  court 


135 


I'late  XXX\'II — Tiirkisli  einhroidercd  cover 


Plate  XXXVIII— Turkish  embroidery  of  tlie 
eigiiteenth  century 


I'late  XXXIX — Persian  embroidered  rug  of  the 
nineteenth  century 


136 


O 
O 


Or.       = 


r22       S 

:,  a-  s       " 


«- 


a  I—  j: 


><< 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

Persians  (Plate  XXXIX),  Turks  (Plate  XXXVIII)  and  Hin- 
doos (Plates  XXXII,  XXXV)  sometimes  use  beads,  spangles, 
coins,  pearls  and  even  precious  stones  to  heighten  the  effect.  Some- 
times feathers,  nuts,  pieces  of  fur,  the  skins  of  serpents,  the  claws  and 
teeth  of  animals  are  also  added. 

TOOr,S  AND  STITCHES 

The  tools  of  the  hand  embroiderer  are  very  simple;  needles  to 
draw  the  different  kinds  and  sizes  of  threads  through  the  work,  a 
frame  to  hold  the  material,  and  scissors  to  cut  the  thread.  A  stitch 
or  point  is  the  thread  left  on  the  surface  after  each  ply  of  the  needle. 
The  most  common  forms  of  canvas  stitch  are  cross  stitch,  tent  stitch, 
Gobelin  stitch,  Irish  stitch,  plait  stitch.  Crewel  stitch  is  a  diagonal 
stitch  used  in  outlining.  'Some  of  the  other  principal  stitches  are  chain 
or  tambour,  herringbone,  buttonhole,  feather,  rope,  satin,  darning  and 
running  stitch.  About  the  twelfth  century  the  modelling  and  padding 
of  figures  became  common,  i.  e.,  embroidery  was  made  by  sewing  onto 
as  well  as  into  the  material.  Hence  we  have  the  couching  stitch,  when 
one  thread  is  sewed  on  with  another,  and  applique  work,  when  pieces 
of  cloth  are  sewed  on  (Plates  XVIII,  XXVII)  ;  to  give  relief  to  the 
ajjplique,  the  figures  are  often  padded,  as  on  Plate  VII. 

Credit  for  illustrations:  Plate  V,  Karl  G.  Baker;  Plate  VII,  the  Cincinnati  Museiun; 
Plates  VIII  1),  IX,  XI,  XIV,  XIX,  XXI,  XXIV,  XXVIII,  XXIX,  XXXI,  XXXIV,  XXXVI 
to  XXXIX,  the  Metropolitan  Museum;  Plates  X,  XV,  XVI,  XVIII,  XXVII,  Arthur  H. 
Lee  &  Sons;  Plates  XII,  XXII,  Mrs.  James  W.  Alexander;  Plates  XVII,  XX,  XXX, 
B.  Saubjac  &  Son;  Plates  XXXII,  XXXIII,  XXXV,  M.  J.  Bhumgara;  Plate  XL,  Brooklyn 
Museum  of  Arts  and  Sciences 


CHAPTER  VII 

CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

Hand-Made  Spanish,  English,  Axaiinster,  Savonnerie, 
American,  Aubussox  Tapestry 

Just  as  tapestries  are  the  fundamental  wall  covering,  so  pile 
rugs  are  the  fundamental  floor  covering.  Jfist  as  the  horizontal  ribs 
and  vertical  wefts  and  hatchings  of  the  former,  lock  decoratively  into 
the  fundamental  lines  of  the  architecture  of  rooms,  so  the  surface  of 
the  latter  is  solid  and  agreeable  beneath  the  foot,  because  the  pile 
swallows  up  instead  of  reflecting  the  light,  and  consequently  seems  to 
advance  to  meet  the  foot,  more  obviously  than  would  any  other  kind 
of  surface. 

However,  fundamental  fitness  does  not  always  govern  the 
actions  of  men.  Propinquity  is  apt  to  exercise  an  amount  of  influ- 
ence not  always  ajipreciated  by  philosophers  and  historians.  So  that 
we  must  not  be  surprised  to  find  pile  rugs  hanging  on  the  walls  of 
Persia  and  central  Asia,  where  the  weaving  of  pile  rugs  originated; 
or  tapestries  lying  on  the  floors  of  western  Europe,  where  tapestry 
weaving  reached  its  highest  development. 

In  England  a  large  rug  is  a  carpet,  and  in  the  United  States  a 
large  rug  is  often  described  as  "of  carpet  size;"  but  commonly  in  the 
United  States,  the  idea  suggested  by  the  word  carpet  is  of  a  floor 
covering  sewed  together  out  of  strips  of  carpeting  twenty-seven 
inches  wide,  which  conceals  the  whole  of  the  floor  and  is,  as  a  rule, 
tacked  to  it. 

Until  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  floor  idea  and 
the  large  idea  were  not  uppermost  in  the  word  carpet.  Chambers's 
Encyclopsedia  defines  carpet  as  "a  sort  of  covering  worked  either  with 
needle  or  a  loom,  to  be  spread  on  a  table  or  trunk,  or  estrade,  or  even 
a  passage  or  floor;"  estrade  being  an  old  word  for  dais  or  raised  plat- 
form.    Indeed,  the  table  use  of  the  word  has  survived  in  the  phrase 

189 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

"on  the  carpet,"  that,  like  the  French,  "sur  le  tapis"  means  not  on 
the  floor  but  on  the  table;  whilst  the  ancient  floor  use  of  the  word  is 
seen  in  "knight  of  the  carpet,"  so  called  because  dubbed  not  on  the 
field  of  battle,  but  on  the  carpet  or  cloth  usually  spread  before  the 
throne  or  estrade  of  the  sovereign  or  lord  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
Also  in  olden  time  when  servants  were  summoned  before  the  master 
for  reprimand,  they  were  said  to  "walk  on  the  carpet." 

SPANISH 

In  the  fifteenth  century,  in  Italy,  France,  Flanders  and  Ger- 
many, as  is  shown  by  the  picture  paintings  and  the  picture  tapestries 
of  the  period.  Oriental  pile  rugs  and  Occidental  flat  tapestry  rugs, 
as  well  as  Occidental  flat  rugs  of  the  ingrain  type,  were  all  in  use. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  pile  rugs  were  made  in  western  Europe  before 
the  sixteenth  centiuy,  except  in  southern  Spain  and  perhaps  Sicily, 
where  the  weaving  of  pile  rugs  in  the  Oriental  fashion  had  been  intro- 
duced by  the  Mohammedans.  That  Spain  produced  pile  rugs  before 
the  twelfth  century,  is  indicated  by  the  following  lines  of  a  mediteval 
Latin  poet  quoted  by  Michel  from  Meril : 

Tunc  operosa  siiis  Hispana  tapetia  villis, 
Hinc  rubras,  virides  inde  ferunt  species, 
which  ti'anslated,  reads: 

Then  Spanish  carpets,  with  their  elaborate  pile, 
Bear  patterns  that  here  are  red  and  there  are  green. 
The  Spanish  origin  of  carpets,  as  far  as  England  is  concerned, 
is  suggested  by  the  contempt  with  which  the  ancient  historian 
Matthew  Paris  speaks  of  their  importation  by  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sadors who  in  the  thirteenth  century  arranged  the  marriage  of  Eleanor 
of  Castile  to  Edward  eldest  son  of  Henry  II L  He  says  that  when 
Eleanor  arrived  at  Westminster  she  found  the  floors  of  her  apart- 
ments carpeted  after  the  fashion  of  her  own  country.  This  annoyed 
the  citizens  of  London,  who  ridiculed  the  Sjianish  luxury  and  empha- 
sised the  fact  that  while  the  lodgings  of  the  ambassadors  at  the 
Temple  were  hung  with  silk  and  tapestry,  and  even  the  floors  covered 
with  splendid  cloths,  their  retinue  was  vulgar  and  disorderly  and  had 
mostly  mules  instead  of  horses.  In  the  fourteenth  century,  a  few 
carpets  were  made  at  Ramsey  in  Huntingdonshire,  but  mainly  for 
churches.  Whilst  parlors  were  occasionally  carpeted,  the  poets  of  the 
period  sneer  at  them  as  "tapets  of  Spayne"  laid  down  for  "pompe 

liO 


Plate  I— SAMPLE  OF  MODKllX  I'llF.NCH  SAVONNEUIK 
To  show  colour,  design  and  texture 


141 


Plate  II— SAVONNEIUK  HUG  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CICNTUHV 

U3 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

and  jjiyde."  A  rare  departure  from  custom  is  the  bedroom  men- 
tioned in  the  "Story  of  Thebes,"  the  floor  of  which  was  covered  with 
cloth  of  gold.  Only  in  the  fifteenth  century  did  carpets  become  gen- 
eral in  the  private  rooms  of  the  rich,  and  on  the  dais  or  throne  plat- 
form of  great  halls.  The  main  floor  of  great  halls,  outside  this  dais, 
still  employed  rushes  or  straw,  or  grass,  often  upon  the  soil  itself, 
without  wooden  or  tile  flooring,  and  was  appi'opriately  called  the 
marsh,  because  of  its  usually  filthy  condition. 

Of  ancient  Spanish  pile  carpets,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  is 
in  the  Xew  York  Metropolitan  Museum  lent  by  Mr.  C.  F.  WilHams. 
It  bears  three  times  repeated  as  a  medallion  in  the  field,  the  coat-of- 
arms  of  the  Henriques  family,  hereditary  admirals  of  Spain,  which 
explains  the  four  anchors.  The  border  consists  of  two  main  bands 
with  a  stripe  outside.  The  inner  band  is  covered  with  an  allover  lace- 
like repeat.  The  outer  band  is  divided  into  compartments  carrying 
as  the  main  motif,  bears  at  the  ends ;  and  at  the  sides,  two  bears  under 
a  tree,  two  swans  facing  each  other,  a  wild  man  dancing  with  bears, 
a  lady  wearing  a  farthingale  of  the  extreme  balloon  type,  wild  boars, 
etc.  Across  the  ends  of  the  carpet  are  extra  bands  composed  of 
details  borrowed  from  the  outer  band  of  the  border.  The  dominant 
colours  are  yellow  and  blue,  with  red  to  heighten  and  cream  to  soften 
the  contrasts.  The  pattern  of  the  field,  with  its  tiny  octagons,  sug- 
gests tiled  flooring.  While  this  carpet  is  attributed  to  the  first  half 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  it  would  appear  to  me  to  be  of  the  sixteenth. 

I  also  doubt  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  century  origin  some- 
times attributed  to  one  of  the  Spanish  carpets  in  the  Berlin  Kaiser 
Friedrich  Museum,  while  admitting  that  it  probably  does  date  from 
the  fifteenth  and  is  perhaps  the  oldest  still  preserved.  The  field  bears 
a  small  repeat,  with  two  medallions  carrying  coats-of-arms  in  the 
middle.  The  two  main  borders  of  the  border  bear  quaint  humans, 
horses  and  birds,  resembling  closely  those  that  occur  in  Daghestan 
rugs. 

The  most  famous  of  the  ancient  Spanisli  carpet  factories  was 
that  of  Alcazar,  which  existed  as  late  as  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  According  to  the  tradition  believed  by  Spanish  carpet 
weavers  of  today,  it  was  of  Moorish  origin,  and  after  the  conquest  of 
the  Moors  was  carried  on  by  Moorish  slaves  under  Christian  manage- 
ment. When  the  Emperor  Charles  V  died  at  Yuste  in  1558,  he  left 
four  Turkey  carpets  and  four  of  Alcazar.    The  Victoria  and  Albert 

143 


Plate  III— SAVONNERIE  SCREEN  PANELS  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

144 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

Museum  in  London  contains  a  splendid  collection  of  Alcazar  and 
other  Spanish  pile  carpets  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries. 

EARLY  ENGLISH 

While  I  am  postponing  the  discussion  of  embroidered  carpets 
imtil  Chapter  VIII,  because  of  the  fact  that  they  are  to  be  classed 
with  shuttle-made  goods,  being  constructed  on  a  shuttle-woven  ground, 
I  think  it  pertinent  to  introduce  here  what  Lady  Sussex,  one  of  Van- 
dyke's sitters,  said  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  about 
Turkey  work,  which  is  an  imitation  of  Oriental  pile  rugs,  made  by 
threading  worsted  yarn  through  a  coarse  cloth  of  open  texture,  then 
knotting  and  cutting.  This  Turkey  work  was  a  home  industry  requir- 
ing less  skill  than  hand-knotted  carpets,  that  were  either  imported 
or  made  in  factories  at  Wilton,  Kidderminster  and  Axminster.  I^ady 
Sussex's  remarks  illustrate  the  varied  use  of  carpets,  for  beds  and 
windows  as  well  as  under  "fote." 

"The  carpet  truly  is  a  good  on  *  *  *  if  I  can  have  that  and 
the  other  for  forty  ponde  or  a  littell-more  I  would  by  them,  and 
woulde  bee  very  fine  for  a  bede  but  onlie  if  one  may  have  a  very  good 
peniworth.  For  the  carpets  if  the  gronde  be  very  dole  and  the  flower 
or  works  in  them  not  of  very  plesent  color  i  doubt  the  will  be  to  dole 
for  to  suet  with  my  hanginges  and  chers.  *  *  *  Concerning  the 
choice  of  a  small  carpet:  If  it  will  not  sarve  for  a  windo  it  will  sarve 
for  a  fote  carpet." 

While  it  is  possible,  even  probable,  that  pile  carpets  may  have 
been  made  in  England  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  we 
have  no  positive  evidence  to  prove  it.  The  carpet  belonging  to  Lord 
Verulam  that  bears  in  the  centre  a  large  medallion  with  the  royal 
arms  of  England,  the  letters  E  R  (Pjlizabeth  Regina),  and  the  date 
1570,  may  have  been  made  at  Norwich  by  weavers  from  Spain  or  with 
Spanish  training;  but  it  is  equally  probable  that  it  was  woven  in 
Spain  on  order  from  England.  It  bears  the  arms  of  the  borough  of 
Ipswich  and  of  the  family  of  Harbottle. 

Equally  Spanish  in  style  is  the  carpet  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert 
Musemn  with  the  inscription:  "Feare  God  and  Keep  His  Command- 
ments, made  in  the  yeare  1603."  .It  bears  the  arms  of  Sir  Edward 
Apsley  and  his  wife  Elizabeth  Elmes  and  may  also  have  been  made 
in  England.  It  resembles  closely  the  carpet  that  appears  in  the 
painting  by  Marc  Gheeraedts,  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  of 

145 


a2 


< 

J 

D 
O 

si 


— <  1) 


o 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

London,  of  the  conference  at  Old  Somerset  House  in  1604,  of  a  num- 
ber of  English  and  Spanish  plenipotentiaries. 

ENGLISH    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  we  begin  to  get 
definite  evidence  of  carpet  weaving  in  England.  In  1701,  King 
William  granted  a  charter  to  immigrants  from  France  settled  at 
Wilton,  to  manufacture  carpets  after  the  French  style  (savonnerie),> 
and  the  charter  was  confirmed  in  1706  and  1725.  The  special  patron 
of  the  industry  was  the  ninth  Earl  of  Pembroke,  who  persuaded  many 
of  the  skilled  French  and  Flemish  weavers  to  come  to  England. 

A  few  years  later,  in  1751,  Pere  Xorbert,  who  naturalised  him- 
self as  an  Englishman  and  changed  his  name  to  Peter  Parisot,  started 
a  factoiy  and  school  at  Fulham.  In  1753  he  published  "An  account 
of  the  new  manufactory  of  tapestry  after  the  manner  of  that  at  the 
Gobelins,  and  of  carpets  after  the  manner  of  that  at  Chaillot 
(savonnerie)  now  undertaken  at  Fulham  by  Mr.  Peter  Parisot." 
After  describing  the  Chaillot  factory  as  "almost  altogether  employed 
in  making  carpets  and  other  furniture  for  the  French  King's  Pala:ces," 
he  tells  the  story  of  two  Chaillot  weavers  who  came  to  London  in 
1750,  and  finding  themselves  in  difficulties,  applied  to  him.  He  real- 
ised that  it  was  necessary  to  procure  as  patron  "some  person  of 
Fashion  who  actuated  by  the  Motive  of  Public-spiritedness  might 
be  both  able  and  willing  to  Sacrifice  a  Sum  of  Money."  The  Duke 
of  Cumberland  came  forward  with  funds,  and  work  begun  at  West- 
minster was  continued  at  Paddington.  The  first  carpet  completed 
was  presented  by  the  Duke  to  the  Princess  Dowager  of  ^Vales.  Later, 
other  weavers  were  brought  over  and  the  jilant  was  moved  from 
Paddington  to  Fulham.  The  French  government  became  disturbed 
and  tried  to  check  the  emigration  of  weavers.  Orders  were  given  to 
intercept  all  letters  from  "Padington  or  Kensington,  addressed  to 
workmen  or  other  persons  of  humble  station  in  the  quarter  of  the 
Gobelins  or  the  Savonnerie,"  as  well  as  all  letters  to  "M.  Parizot  in 
FouUeme  Manufactory  a  London."  In  spite  of  the  patronage  of 
His  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  and  of  the  fact  that 
the  factory  employed  one  hundred  workmen,  the  industry  failed  to 
become  established  and  in  1755  Parisot  was  obliged  to  sell  at  auction 
the  entire  works  of  the  Fidham  Manufactory,  among  which  were: 
Eight  seats  for  stools,  manner  of   Chaillot;   a  carpet,   manner  of 


Plate  VI— TAPESTRY  RUG  MADE   IN   AMERICA 
Renaissance  style,  with  Byzantine  field,  coarse  texture 


Reverse  side 


*'  ^"'*  '■*''■  jiiji^^ffl^' 


«,*    '  'r   ,    . 


Eace  side 


Plate  V— SECTION  OF  A  TAPESTRY  RUG 
Full  she,  nine  ribs  to  the  inch 


U8 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

Chaillot,  seven  feet  six  inches  by  five  feet  six  inches;  a  pattern  for  a 
screen  or  French  chair,  with  a  vase  of  flowers,  in  the  manner  of 
Chaillot;  a  beautiful  rich  pattern  for  a  screen,  two  Chinese  figures, 
flower  pots  and  trees,  Chaillot ;  a  picture  of  the  King  of  France,  most 
exquisitely  done,  in  the  manner  of  Chaillot  in  a  frame  and  glass;  a  rich 
and  beautifid  carpet  eleven  feet  by  eight  feet  six  inches,  etc.,  etc. 

In  1913  there  was  sold  at  Christie's  in  London  a  savonnerie  panel 
bearing  the  signature  of  Parisot. 

AXMINSTER 

The  year  of  Parisot's  failure,  a  Mr.  Whitty  established  the  indus- 
try at  Wilton,  and  the  Annual  Register  of  1759  says  that: 

"Six  carpets  made  by  Mr.  Whitty  of  Axminster  in  Devonshire, 
and  two  others  made  by  Mr.  Jesser  of  Froome  in  Somersetshire,  all 
on  the  principle  of  Turkey  carpets,  have  been  produced  to  the  Society 
for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts,  Manufactures  and  Commerce,  in 
consequence  of  the  premiums  proposed  by  the  said  society  for  making 
such  carpets,  and  proper  judges  being  appointed  to  examine  the 
same,  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  all  the  carpets  produced  were  made 
in  the  manner  of  Turkey  carpets,  but  much  superior  to  them  in  beauty 
and  goodness.  The  largest  of  the  carpets  produced  is  twenty-six  feet 
six  inches  by  seventeen  feet  six  inches." 

The  transactions  of  the  same  society  for  1783  state  that,  as 
a  result  of  the  premiums,  the  manufacture  of  "Turkey  carpets  is  now 
established  in  different  parts  of  the  Kingdom,  and  brought  to  a  degree 
of  elegance  and  beauty  which  the  Turkey  carpets  never  attained." 

Whilst  these  English  factories  produced  carpets  in  both  Oriental 
and  European  designs,  the  latter  were  preferred  by  the  great  architect, 
Robert  Adam,  and  many  of  his  contemporaries,  and  as  in  France  it 
became  common  to  base  the  floor  decoration  on  that  of  the  ceiling, 
reproducing  in  the  carpet,  architectural  mouldings  and  details  of 
plaster  ornament.  For  example,  in  the  drawing  room  of  Osterly, 
the  elaborate  Etruscan  ornament  of  the  ceiling  is  repeated  by  Robert 
Adam  in  the  carpet,  and  in  his  design  for  the  tribune  at  Strawberry 
Hill,  the  centre  of  the  carpet  repeats  the  coloured  glass  roof  overhead. 

The  making  of  hand-knotted  pile  rugs  has  survived  in  England 
at  Wilton  only,  but  the  rugs  produced  are  called  Axminster.  In 
Ireland  hand-knotted  rugs  are  made  at  Donegal,  and  as  Donegal 
rugs  have  attracted  attention  in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 

149 


Plate  \'II— EIGHTKI'.XTH   CKNTUHY    TAPESTR-i    KLG 
Made  at  the  Spanish  works  in  Madrid 


ISO 


I'late  VIII— OVAL  HAXD-TUl'TKD  Ulti  MADK  IX  AMERICA 
For  one  of  the  partners  of  Marsliall  Field  &  Co. 


151 


Plate  IX — Above,  a  modern  Aubusson  tapestry  rug  designed  in  America 

for  an  ancient  Colonial  mansion ;  below,  sections  of  modern 

Italian  Renaissance,  and  Louis  XIV  Savonnerie 


153 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

SAVONNERIE 

The  finest  hand-knotted  European  pWe  carpets  are  the  French* 
savonncries  (Plates  I  and  II)  that  get  their  name  from  the  soap- 
works  (savon  is  French  for  soap)  at  Chaillot  in  Paris,  where  the 
industry  was  estabhshed  three  centuries  ago  by  Pierre  Dupont  and 
Simon  Lourdet.  The  story  of  the  foundation  is  tokl  in  Dupont's 
Stromatourgie  ou  de  I'EoeccUencc  dc  la  manufacture  des  tapis  dits  de 
Turquie,  pubHshed  in  Paris  in  1632. 

Dupont  had  in  1604  been  estabhshed  in  the  Louvre  by  Henri  IV, 
and  Loiu'det  was  his  pupiL  Dupont's  success  on  a  small  scale  had 
been  of  such  an  encoiu'aging  nature  that  it  was  promptly  decided  to 
increase  the  size  of  the  plant  largely,  but  the  death  of  the  King  in 
1610  postponed  the  execution  of  Dupont's  ambitions.  Dupont's 
claim,  moreover,  to  have  been  the  first  to  propose  the  establishment 
of  the  industry  in  France,  was  successfully  disputed  by  Jehan  Fortier, 
whose  pi'oposition  made  in  1603  had  been  approved  by  a  royal  com- 
mission in  1604,  but  had,  for  some  unknown  reason,  stopped  there. 

The  building  near  Chaillot  that  had  been  leased  by  Hem-i  IV 
in  order  to  establish  the  manufacture  of  soap,  was  in  1615  turned  into 
an  orphan  asylum  through  the  munificence  of  Henri  IV's  widow, 
Marie  de  Medicis,  mother  of  Louis  XIII.  In  1626  the  property  was 
purchased,  and  provision  made  for  enlarging  the  quarters  of  Simon 
Lourdet,  who  had  already  been  making  carpets  there  in  a  small  way. 
In  1627  a  royal  decree  gave  to  Dupont  and  I^ourdet  in  association, 
the  right  to  make  carpets  at  the  Savonnerie,  on  condition  that  they 
train  one  hundred  of  the  orphans  as  six-year  apprentices.  The  part- 
ners, however,  quarrelled  and  Dupont  continued  his  work  at  the 
Louvre,  without  sharing  actively  in  the  enterprise  at  Chaillot,  that 
was  finally  awarded  to  Loiu'tlet  alone. 

Under  Colbert  the  industry  at  the  Savonnerie  was  encouraged,^ 
and  in  1668  Philip  Lourdet,  who  had  succeeded  his  father,  began  the 
celebrated  set  of  carpets  for  the  grand  gallery  of  the  Louvre,  the 
cartoons  for  which  had  been  painted  at  the  Gobelins  by  Baudrin, 
Yvart  and  Francart.  The  set  consisted  of  ninety -two  pieces  (one  of 
which  is  illustrated  in  Plate  II)  ornamented  with  medallions,  coats- 
of-arms,  trophies,  verdure,  panel  flowers.  Two  of  the  pieces  did  not 
reach  the  Louvre,  being  sent  as  a  present  to  the  King  of  Siam  in 
168.5.  From  1664  to  1683,  the  widow  I^ourdet,  who  succeeded  her 
husband  as  director  of  the  establishment  in  1671,  received  280,591 

153 


/ 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

livres  as  payment  for  these  carpets  only,  in  the  execution  of  which  the 
Dupont  factory  at  the  I^ouvre  collahorated.  In  1672  the  Louvrq 
factory  was  moved  to  the  Savonnerie  by  I^ouis  Dupont,  who  had 
inheritetl  liis  father's  privileges,  and  in  1(572  he  is  described  as  director 
of  the  Savonnerie.  Besides  carpets,  there  were  also  made  in  both 
factories  fm-niture  coverings,  screen  panels  (Plate  III)  and  portieres, 
all  in  savonnerie. 

During  the  eighteenth  century  the  output  of  the  Savonnerie 
was  important,  especially  in  furnitin-e  coverings  like  the  one  on  the  ^ 
bench  till  recently  on  exhibition  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum  in  the 
Morgan  Loan  Collection,  and  in  portraits  like  that  of  the  Emperor 
Joseph  II  in  the  Hoentschel  Collection  at  the  same  museum.  The 
Empire,  being  a  period  especially  fond  of  velvety  and  shiny  surfaces^ 
restored  to  the  Savonnerie  its  seventeenth  century  prosperity,  and 
supplied  it  with  designs  by  Percier  and  Fontaine,  and  by  Lagrenee. 
In  1826  the  plant  was  moved  to  the  Gobelins  and  has  since  been 
operated  there  on  a  small  scale,  serving  principally  by  the  perfection 
of  its  work,  as  an  insjjiration  to  the  makers  of  hand-knotted  rugs  at 
Aubusson  (where  the  industry  was  established  in  1740)  and  other 
places  in  France,  the  rugs  from  which  are  also  called  savonneries, 
ha\'ing  borrowed  the  name  from  the  Chaillot  product.  Plate  I  shows 
part  of  a  modern  Aubusson  savonnerie  in  coloin-. 

Exceedingly  interesting  is  the  account  of  a  visit  made  by  two 
young  Dutchmen  to  the  Louvre  factory  in  the  time  of  Louis  Dupont, 
They  wrote :  "We  saw,  on  entering,  a  kind  of  tapestry  that  he  called 
fashion  of  Turkey,  because  it  resembles  it,  But  is  much  more  beau- 
tiful. *  *  *  He  showed  us  several  portraits  that  he  had  made, 
amongothersof  the 'Adoration  of  the  Kings.'  *  *  *  The  father  of 
this  excellent  workman  brought  the  secret  from  Persia  where  he  passed 
several  years,  and  it  was  he  who  established  the  manufacture  at  the 
Savonnerie." 

AMERICAN 

Hand-knotted  rugs  are  made  in  both  Germany  and  Austria,  but 
of  quality  inferior  to  the  French  savonneries.  No  hand-knotted  rugs 
are  made  today  in  the  United  States.  The  price  of  labor,  even  of 
young  girls,  makes  it  impossible  to  conduct  the  industry  here  success- 
fully. The  plant  established  in  Milwaukee  aKout  thirty  years  ago, 
and  later  moved  to  New  York,  was  in  operation  for  twenty  years 

155 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

practically  without  profit.  A  branch  factory  established  at  Elizabeth- 
port,  X.  J.,  by  the  proprietors  of  the  English  factory  in  Wilton  was 
in  operation  five  years. 

AUBUSSON   TAPESTKV  RUGS 

For  over  a  century  the  little  mountain  city  of  Aubusson  in 
France,  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  south  of  Paris,  has  been  the  com- 
mercial centre  of  the  weaving  of  tapestries  for  the  floor,  as  well  as 
tapestries  for  furniture  and  for  the  wall.  One  result  of  this  is  that 
the  name  "Aubusson  rugs"  has  become  attached  to  tapestry  rugs,  and 
they  are  commonly  called  that  even  when  woven  elsewhere.  In  tex- 
ture, tapestry  rugs  are  exactly  like  wall  tapestries,  but  coarser  and 
heavier  and  of  simpler  design.  Until  the  eighteenth  century,  they 
were  called  "Brussels  rugs"  because  made  mostly  in  Brussels,  and  the 
machine  imitation  of  them  is  still  known  as  "brussels"  carpeting  and 
rugs.  Having  a  rib^d  surface  that  is  comparatively  fjat,  they  are 
not  as  suitable  as  pile  rugs  for  large  high  rooms;  but  for  many  low 
rooms,  they  are  even  to  be  preferred  because  they  do  not  swallow  up 
the  light,  and  do  not  decrease  the  apparent  height  of  a  room  by  seem- 
ing to  rise  to  meet  the  foot.    The  lining  should  be  heavy. 

Tapestry  rugs  are  made  just  like  wall  tapestries,  and  probably 
have  been  woven  in  most  tapestry  factories,  even  those  established 
primarily  for  picture  weaving.  There  have  been  many  important 
tapestry  rugs  woven  in  the  United  States,  mostly  in  French  designs 
like  Plate  IV,  but  a  few  like  Plate  VI,  in  designs  of  varied  char- 
acter, even  Art  Nouveau.  I  approve  particularly  of  tapestry  woven 
in  coarsest  texture,  far  coarser  than  that  conmionly  employed  at 
Aubusson,  and  in  mille  fleur  or  other  detached  floral  patterns.  For 
illustration  of  tapestry  rug  texture  see  Plate  V.  A  Spanish  tapestry 
rug  is  illustrated  on  Plate  VII. 

One  thing  that  brings  tapestry  rugs  vividly  before  thousands  of 
Americans  is  the  fact  that  there  are  two  at  Mt.  Vernon,  one  in  the 
dining  room,  and  one  in  the  library,  made  in  Aubusson,  the  latter 
illustrated  on  Plate  X. 

Credit  for  illustrations:     Plates  II,  III,  the  French  Government;  Plate  IV,  Wm.  Baum- 
garten  &  Co.;  Plates  V,  VIII,  X,  the  Persian  Uiig  Manufactory;  Plate  VI,  the  Herter  Looms. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

European  and  American  Machine-Made 

In  Chapter  VII  I  discussed  European  and  American  hand- 
knotted  and  tapestry-woven  floor-coverings — that  is  to  say,  those  made 
without  the  use  of  a  shuttle.  In  Chapter  VIII  I  shall  confine  myself 
to  shuttle-made  goods — to  those  in  which  a  shuttle  loom  is  used  to 
prepare  the  body  fabric  as  in  cross-stitch,  hooked,  and  other  embroid- 
ered rugs ;  or  in  which  a  shuttle  loom  is  used  to  prepare  a  special  furry 
weft,  as  in  chenille  axminster;  or  in  which  the  whole  process  takes 
place  on  a  shuttle  loom,  as  in  ingrains,  brussels,  wiltons,  tapestries 
and  velvets. 

The  distinction  between  looms  with  a  shuttle  and  looms  without 
a  shuttle,  is  fundamental.  The  shuttle  marks  a  great  advance  in  the 
machine  direction.  The  invention  of  the  shuttle — which  is  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  a  pointed  box  or  carriage  to  carry  the  bobbin  and 
enable  it  to  be  easily  thrown  or  knocked  through  the  entire  width  of 
the  warp  shed — increased  speed  of  weaving  at  the  expense  of  control 
of  the  bobbin  and  of  weft  threads.  But  this  was  more  than  made  up  for 
by  inventions  that  gave  increased  control  over  the  warp  threads.  So 
that  on  a  shuttle  loom  the  tendency  is  to  produce  by  manipulation  of 
the  warp  the  effects  that  on  the  more  primitive  looms  are  produced 
by  manipulation  of  the  weft.  (See  Development  of  the  Loom  in 
Chapter  I.) 

The  ancient  Egyptians  made  pile  fabrics  in  which  the  pile  was 
a  weft  pile  looj^ed  around  pairs  of  warps.  ( See  the  Weave  of  Velvets 
in  Chapter  I.)  This  is  the  most  primitive  form  of  pile  weaving,  even 
more  primitive  than  hand-knotting  to  pairs  of  warps  with  short  pieces 
of  yarn,  as  in  Oriental  rugs;  or  than  hand-knotting  to  single  warps 
around  a  short  knife-bearing  rod,  as  in  savonneries.  In  all  of  these 
the  pile  is  held  in  place  by  warp  threads.    Brussels  and  wiltons,  on  the 

157 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

contraiy,  and  the  tapestry  and  velvet  imitations  of  them,  have  a  warp 
pile  looped  around  weft  threads — a  pile  formed  like  the  pile  of  silk 
velvets  by  looping  warp  threads  over  wires  and  under  wefts. 

CHENILLE  AXMINSTEH  AND  SMYRNA 

The  most  aristocratic  of  the  shuttle-made  carpets  and  rugs  is 
the  chenille  axminster,  sometimes  called  Scotch  axminster  because  it 
is  said  to  have  been  first  successfully  produced  in  Scotland  and  pat- 
ented in  Great  Britain  in  1839.  The  finest  grades  are  quite  as 
expensive  as  Oriental  rugs  of  similar  pattern  and  texture.  The  great 
success  of  chenille  axminster  rugs  is  due  to  the  fact  that  single  ones 
can  be  made  to  order  quickly  in  one  piece  (seamless)  and  in  all  sizes 
and  shapes,  provided  the  field  be  plain  or  mottled  or  a  small  repeat. 
Especially  successfid  have  been  those  in  two  tones  (sometimes  three 
or  four)  of  one  colour.  As  repeats  grow  large  and  complicated  and 
colours  numerous,  the  cost  of  making  chenille  axminsters  in  small 
(]uantities  becomes  prohibitive.  The  process  is  a  double  one  that 
requires  two  looms,  one  to  produce  the  strips  of  chenille,  the  other  to 
make  the  body,  and  with  linen  warjjs  lock  the  chenille  strips  into  it. 

Plate  II  shows  the  chenille  in  the  various  stages.  In  a,  it  is  a 
flat  cloth,  just  as  it  comes  fi-om  the  first  loom,  except  that  it  has 
been  cut  to  make  clear  how  it  is  divided  into  strips.  In  b,  it  has  been 
steamed  and  shajied  so  that  the  fur  points  all  in  one  direction,  instead 
of  in  two  opposite  directions,  as  when  flat.  In  c,  the  finished  fabric 
appears  with  chenille  strips  locked  into  place ;  but  with  several 
removed  in  order  to  reveal  the  linen  warps  that  do  the  locking.  In 
the  finer  chenille  axminsters,  the  body  as  well  as  the  chenille  is  almost 
entirely  of  wool.  In  a,  the  cloth  is  shown  at  right  angles  to  the  way 
it  is  woven.  The  loom  on  which  it  is  woven  is  warped  with  groups 
of  from  four  to  six  cotton  or  linen  strings  (one  group  for  each  strip 
there  is  to  be  of  this  chenille )  and  the  coarse  worsted  weft  that  is  later 
to  form  the  pile  is  inserted  by  the  weaver  from  shuttles,  one  for  each 
colour  that  is  to  appear  in  the  design.  Of  course,  all  the  strips  in  a 
single  weaving  are  necessarily  exactly  alike,  and  the  process  becomes 
economical  in  proportion  as  many  strips  of  the  same  kind  are  required. 
Of  course,  the  length  of  each  of  the  strips  is  equal  to  the  width  of  the 
rug,  and  each  strip  represents  the  exact  succession  of  colours  that 
occurs  in  the  width. 

A  few  years  ago  one  of  the  most  popular  rugs  on  the  market  was 

IT)  8 


Plate  I— SECTION  OF  AMERICAN-MADE  CHENILLE  AXMINSTER   ULG 

In  four  tones 


159 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

the  smi/rna,  named  after  the  city  in  Asia  Minor  from  which  many 
Oriental  rugs  are  shipijed.  However,  ihesc  smyrna  rugs  are  not 
Oriental  at  all,  but  made  like  chenille  axminsters  except  that  the 
chenille  is  very  coarse  and  heavy  and  is  inserted  in  the  body  while  still 
flat,  so  that  the  fur  points  down  as  well  as  up,  and  the  back  of  the  rug 
is  just  like  the  face.  Retail  salesmen  used  to  say  to  visitors  to  whom 
they  were  trying  to  sell  smyrna  rugs:  "When  it  is  worn  out  on  the 
face,  turn  it  over  and  wear  the  back  out."  Of  course,  this  remark  was 
misleading,  for  the  back  of  a  smyrna  rug  wears  out  nearly  as  fast  as 
the  face,  and  by  the  time  the  face  pulls  loose,  the  back  is  gone  also. 
The  heel  that  scrapes  the  face  also  causes  the  back  to  scrape  against 
the  floor.  But  the  stain  that  soils  one  side  does  not  necessarily  soil 
the  other;  and  reversing  the  rug  occasionally  keeps  the  colours  fresh 
longer.  Smyrna  rugs  in  Kazak,  Guenje  and  other  Oriental  patterns, 
have  great  merit  and  are  comparatively  inexpensive.  I  recommend 
them  for  use  in  rooms  where  Mission  furniture  is  suitable,  and  in 
rustic  and  modern  homes  where  extreme  delicacy  of  tone  and  texture 
gradation  is  not  desired. 

OLD-FASHIOXED   INC5RAIN 

Fifty  years  ago  ingrain  carpeting  "all  wool  and  a  yard  wide" 
was  the  pride  of  American  homes.  The  patterns  Eagle  Head,  Henry 
Clay  and  Martha  Washington  not  only  appealed  patriotically  but 
pleased  decoratively.  These  patterns  are  illustrated  opposite  page  82 
of  my  book  entitled  "Home  Furnishing,"  and  can  still  be  purchased 
for  use  in  Colonial  rooms  and  old-fashioned  chambers.  AVhen  prop- 
erly laid,  ingrain  carpet  is  very  durable  (I  remember  some  in  my 
grandfather's  parlour  that  had  resisted  the  feet  of  a  large  family  for 
over  thirty  years,  and  was  still  in  fair  condition).  It  also  looks  very 
well  in  an  approjjriate  environment — with  mahogany  or  black  walnut 
furniture  and  flat,  smooth  draperies.  Plain  ingrain  (in  solid  colour) 
is  still  used  even  in  city  homes  as  a  background  for  small  rugs  where 
floors  are  rough  and  badly  finished; "figured  ingrains  are  confined  for 
the  most  part  to  the  rural  districts,  and  to  the  "stage  carpets"  of 
theatrical  companies  that  seek  their  revenue  in  small  towns.  Never- 
theless, ingrains  (called  Kidderminster  in  England  from  the  city  that 
i/^  is  the  most  important  centre  of  the  manufacture)  have  been  popular 

for  centuries,  and  can  be  identified  in  jiicture  tapestries  of  the  Gothic 
period,  when  the  only  other  floor  coverings  were  "real  tapestry"  rugs 
160 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

and  rare  and  expensive  Oriental  rugs.  Of  course,  ingrains  have  no 
pile  like  Oriental  rugs,  and  consequently,  are  less  luxurious  to  the  foot. 
They  are  the  product  of  the  shuttle  that  corresponds  most  closely  to 
real  tapestries,  and  have  a  flat  instead  of  a  pile  surface,  but  coarse 
instead  of  fine  wefts.  Plain  ingrains  are  in  weave  almost  like  rag 
carpets,  i.  e.  coarse  wefts,  with  slender  string  warps  that  serve  as 
binders  and  that  are  comparativ^ely  subordinate.  Figured  ingrains 
are  double  or  treble  cloths  (two-ply  or  three-ply)  bound  together 
where  warps  and  wefts  from  the  upper  cloth  are  woven  into  the  lower, 
and  vice  versa. 

The  artistic  possibilities  of  ingrain  were  largely  developed  by 
William  Morris  who  did  much  to  revive  its  use.  He  preferred  the 
three-ply  ingrain  in  which  one  of  the  cloths  (webs)  is  always  buried 
in  the  middle.  Stage  carpet  illustrates  the  construction  of  two-ply 
ingrain  very  clearly,  being  almost  entirely  red  on  one  side  and  almost 
entirely  green  on  the  other,  with  only  a  few  small  spots  of  the  other 
colour  showing  through  where  it  is  necessary  to  bind  the  two  cloths 
together  by  interweaving.  The  reason  for  stage  carpet  is  that  it  can 
be  used  in  one  act  as  a  red  floor  covering,  and  in  the  next  act  as  a 
green  covering,  thus  giving  double  service.  Plate  V  is  a  full  size 
reproduction,  to  show  texture,  of  a  small  piece  of  two-ply  ingrain 
carpeting.  One  of  the  two  cloths  consists  of  alternate  red  and  black 
wefts,  with  alternate  red  and  black  warp  binders ;  the  other  cloth  con- 
sists of  two  white  wefts  treated  as  one,  alternating  with  a  green  and 
a  yellow  weft  treated  as  one,  and  held  together  by  alternate  white  and 
yellow  binders. 

Where  the  carpeting  is  in  two  separate  cloths,  one  is  of  plain  red 
and  black ;  the  other  plain  white  and  green  and  yellow.  The  figures 
are  formed  by  interchanging  the  pt)sitions  of  the  warps  and  wefts, 
so  that  a  portion  of  the  upper  cloth  is  woven  as  the  lower,  and 
vice  versa.  Where  the  two  sets  of  cloths  meet  or  pass  through  each 
other,  they  are  firmly  bound  together,  and  in  order  that  they  may  be 
finnly  bound  together  into  a  durable  structure,  it  is  desirable  that  the 
points  of  intersection  be  frequent.  Strong  colours  are  dangerous  in 
ingrains,  usually  "spotting  or  scratching,"  but  when  skilfully  com- 
bined produce  results  that  appeal  to  persons  of  large  decorative 
experience  and  keen  colour  perception.  A  feature  of  the  two-ply 
ingrain  is  that  the  colours  on  the  back  of  the  carpet  exactly  reverse 
those  on  the  face. 

161 


(a)  Weaving  the  Hat  strips 


(b)  These  flat  strips  are  then  steamed  and  shaped  into  chenille  cord 


(c)  This  cord  is  then  itself  used  as  weft,  and  locked  with  linen 
warps  into  the  solid  back 

Plate  II— THE  PROCESS  OF  MAKING  CHRNIIJ.E  RUGS 

163 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

BRUSSELS  AND  WILTON 

In  the  weaving  of  silk  velvets  as  originated  in  China  centuries 
ago,  the  warps  that  are  to  form  the  pile  are  looped  over  weft  wires 
and  under  weft  binders.  Then  the  wires  are  withdrawn,  leaving  rows 
of  uncut  loops  where  the  velvet  is  to  be  uncut,  and  cutting  the  loops 
where  the  surface  is  to  be  cut  velvet.  Brussels  and  wilton  carpets 
and  rugs  represent  the  application  to  wool  of  the  warp  velvet  method 
of  weaving  ( see  the  Weave  of  Velvets  in  Chapter  I ) .  The  applica- 
tion was  made  in  both  Flanders  and  France  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury; in  France  under  Louis  XIV  at  Abbeville  in  1667;  in  Flanders 
at  Tournai,  which  became  so  famous  for  cut-pile  carpeting  as  to 
give  its  name  to  it,  a  name  that  in  Germany  is  still  used  for  what 
we  call  wilton  after  the  English  town  in  which  the  industry  was  first 
established.  Both  in  German  and  English  speaking  countries  the 
uncut  carpeting  of  this  type  is  called  brussels,  pi'csumably  because  of 
its  resemblance  to  real  tapestry  of  which  Brussels  was  the  chief  centre 
of  manufacture  for  so  long.  The  French  call  brussels  moquette 
boucle,  and  wilton  moquette  veloute.  As  everybody  knows,  the 
standard  width  of  most  American  carpeting — except  ingrain  and 
borders — is  27  inches.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  width  of  the 
old  Flemish  ell  formerly  used  in  both  the  Netherlands  and  Great 
Britain  to  measure  tapestries  and  other  cloths,  was  27  inches.  In 
weaving  carpeting,  it  was  only  natural  to  take  the  nearest  round 
number  that  was  convenient.  A  greater  width  was  too  difficult  to 
wea^e  by  hand  on  a  velvet  loom.  Only  recently  has  it  become  prac- 
ticable to  weave  wiltons  up  to  12/4  width  (12/4  meaning  12/4  of  a 
yard,  just  as  27  inches  is  3/4  of  a  yard  and  27-inch  carpeting  is  known 
as  3/4  goods).  That  is  why  all  brussels  and  wilton  large  rugs  form- 
erly, and  most  of  them  still,  are  sewed  together  out  of  carpeting, 
in  other  words  are  seamed.  A  famous  example  among  seamed  rugs 
is  the  one  in  the  west  parlour  at  Mt.  Vernon,  a  characteristic  Colonial 
residence  that  in  1860  was  preserved  and  restored  through  the 
patriotic  efforts  of  the  Mt.  Vernon  Ladies'  Association,  to  which  we 
should  all  feel  grateful  for  the  opportunity  to  see  George  Washing- 
ton's home  in  nearly  the  same  condition  as  during  his  lifetime,  some  of 
the  furniture  being  what  was  actually  his;  the  rest  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, appropriate  and  of  the  period.  The  rug  to  which  I  refer  is  said 
to  have  been  made  by  order  of  Louis  XVI  for  Washington,  and 
then,  as  the  President  was  not  permitted  to  receive  presents  from 

163 


Plate  III— CHENILLE  AXMINSTER  .MADI';  IN  AMERICA 
To  match  a  large  Kermanshali  rug 


I'late  IN— AMERICAN  CHENILLE  AXMINSTER 
Plain  centre  with  Elizabethan  border 


164 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

foreign  powers,  to  liiive  been  sold  to  Judge  Jasper  Yates  of  Lan- 
caster, Pa.,  whose  great-granddaughter  presented  it  to  the  associa- 
tion in  1897.  It  is  typically  Empire  and  ugly  in  style,  and  consists 
of  27-inch  widths  of  moquettc  veloute  (wilton)  sewed  together  to 
form  a  rug  that  on  a  dark  green  ground  sprinkled  with  stars  carries 
a  huge  centre  medallion  bearing  the  American  eagle.  The  texture  is 
very  velvety  and  agreeable,  and  age  has  worn  the  pile  down  most 
pleasingly.  Across  each  end  is  an  eight-inch  strip  to  match,  evidently 
made  at  a  later  date,  and  of  inferior  material  and  dye. 

In  weaving  brussels  the  worsted  warp  has  as  many  "splits"  as 
there  are  "points"  across  the  fabric,  and  is  divided  into  as  many  hori- 
zontal layers  (from  2  to  6  but  commonly  5)  as  there  are  frames  at 
the  end  of  the  loom,  each  frame  carrying  bobbins  of  a  single  colour. 
In  each  split,  one  thread,  and  only  one,  is  raised  by  the  jacquard 
in  preparation  for  each  "shot,"  thus  forming  a  horizontal  layer  that 
corresponds  in  colour  to  the  points  of  that  row  of  the  design.  A  wire 
is  then  passed  under  this  lK)rizontal  layer,  which  descends  forming 
loops  over  the  wire.  Between  the  rows  of  loops  are  inserted  weft 
threads  to  bind  them  to  the  body  of  the  fabric.  Wilton  is  made  in  the 
same  way  but  the  wire  is  oval  to  give  a  deeper  loop  and  allow  of 
closer  packing,  and  has  a  knife  at  the  end,  which  when  withdrawn^ 
cuts  the  loops,  forming  a  velvet  or  cut  pile.  The  cut  surface  of  wilton 
swallows  up  much  more  light  than  the  uncut  surface  of  brussels,  and 
consequently  is  much  darker  with  the  same  worsted.  This  contrast 
is  illustrated  by  the  silk  velvets  that  have  part  of  the  pattern  cut,  the 
rest  uncut.  Additional  colours  can  be  introduced  into  brussels  and 
wilton  by  "planting"  the  frames,  that  is,  breaking  up  one  or  more  of 
them  into  "stripes,"  and  having  two  colours  instead  of  one  in  a  frame. 
Of  course,  the  original  colour  is  omitted  in  the  stripe  that  carries  the 
additional  one.  Saxony  brussels  and  saxony  wilton  differ  from  the 
others  in  texture,  being  coarser  and  less  velvety  in  appearance,  but 
more  durable  in  use,  because  of  the  thread  employed.  In  other 
brussels  and  wilton,  the  worsted  thread  consists  of  several  fine 
strands  loosely  twisted  together ;  in  saxony,  the  thread  is  coarser  and 
the  strands  unite  to  form  a  unit  as  in  Oriental  rugs. 

TAPESTRY  BRUSSELS  AND  WILTON  VELVET 

Of  course,  in  brussels  and  wilton  only  one  thread  in  each  split 
shows  on  the  surface.    The  others  are  buried  in  the  body.    In  a  five- 

165 


Plate  V— OLD-FASH  ION  KD   INGRAIN    CAKPKTING 


Plate  VI— VELVET  CARPETING  MADE  IN  NEW  YORK 


Plate  VII-TAPESTRY  CARPETING  MADE  IN  NEW  YORK 

166 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

frame  fabric,  four-fifths  of  .the  worsted  is  useless  as  far  as  show  is 
concerned,  although  it  does  help  to  make  the  stuff  more  elastic  than 
a  body  entirely  of  jute  and  cotton.  Tapestry  brussels,  patented  in 
England  in  18.32,  was  invented  by  Richard  Whytock  to  prevent  this 
burying  of  worsted.  There  is  only  one  frame,  the  threads  of  which 
are  printed  with  the  pattern  before  weaving,  but  with  the  pattern 
elongated  so  that  the  looping  up  merely  restores  it  to  normal  shape. 
Characteristic  of  tapestry  brussels  is  the  tendency  of  the  colours  to 
run  into  each  other  and  blur  slightly.  Wilton  velvet  bears  the  same 
relation  to  wilton  that  tapestry  hriissels  does  to  brussels.  In  order 
to  distinguish  brussels  from  tapestry  brussels,  it  is  often  called  body 
brussels.  Just  as  tapestry  brussels  and  wilton  velvet  are  cheap  imita- 
tions of  brussels  and  wilton,  so  now  we  have  an  even  cheaper  imita- 
tion of  them,  printed  not  before  but  after  weaving,  in  other  words 
piece-printed  as  contrasted  with  warp-printed.  Rugs  in  both  piece- 
printed  and  warp-printed  tapestry  and  velvet  are  commonly  seamless. 

SPOOL  AXMINSTER 

In  brussels  and  wilton  the  number  of  colours  that  can  be  used  is 
limited  by  the  number  of  frames  (never  more  than  six  frames,  which 
limits  the  colours,  even  with  "planting,"  to  12) .  In  the  printed  imita- 
tions of  brussels  and  wilton,  the  number  of  colours  is  limited  by  their 
tendency  to  "blur"  and  the  impossibility  of  printing  sharp  line  effects 
on  a  pile  surface,  or  a  surface  that  is  to  become  pile.  In  spool 
axminster  there  is  no  such  limitation.  Each  "point"  is  an  individual 
unit  quite  as  much  as  in  a  hand-knotted  rug,  and  the  process  is  not 
a  silk  velvet  process  but  an  actual  inserting  of  short  pieces  of  yarn. 
Consequently  spool  axminster  has  always  a  cut  pile,  never  the  looped 
pile  of  brussels.  Instead  of  frames,  as  in  brussels,  there  are  spools 
the  width  of  the  fabric,  each  with  a  series  of  short  projecting  tubes, 
one  for  each  point  of  tlie  design.  Wound  on  the  spool  and  project- 
ing through  the  tubes,  are  worsted  threads  of  the  "saxony"  type, 
corresponding  in  coloiu*  to  the  first  row  of  points  of  the  design.  For 
the  second  row  of  points  of  the  design,  a  second  spool  is  prepared;  a 
third  spool  for  the  tliird  row;  and  so  on  until  the  repeat  comes.  These 
spools  are  then  arranged  in  the  loom  in  an  endless  chain,  so  that  each 
projecting  row  of  tufts  is  presented  in  turn  just  above  the  place 
where  it  is  to  be  inserted  in  the  body  of  the  fabric.  The  tufts  are 
seized  by  a  row  of  nippers,  drawn  out  to  the  proper  length,  and  cut 

167 


Plate  VIII— SPOOL  AXMINSTER  PICTURE  RUG  MADE  IN  NEW  YORK 


Plate  IX— SPOOL  AXMINSTER  CARPETING  MADE  IN  NEW  YORK 

168 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

off.  The  nippers  then  bend  down  and  place  the  tufts  in  position,  one 
in  each  "spht"  of  the  warp.  A  shot  of  weft  is  next  thrown  across, 
partially  binding  the  tufts  in  place.  At  this  stage  the  tufts  are 
straight,  one  end  being  in  its  final  position,  the  other  projecting  at 
the  back.  These  back  ends  are  next  bent,  by  a  series  of  mechanical 
fingers,  around  the  shot  of  weft,  so  that  they  take  a  U  shape,  and 
thus  form  a  complete  row  of  two-pointed  tufts  of  pile.  Another  shot 
of  weft  binds  them  and  the  process  is  complete.  Succeeding  rows  are 
added  in  the  same  way,  a  fresh  spool  being  presented  for  each  row  of 
the  pile. 

At  first  sight,  it  seems  strange  that  wilton  should  not  be  sup- 
planted, at  least  for  Oriental  patterns,  by  spool  axminster.  The  tex- 
ture is  softer  and  more  Oriental  and  the  back  much  more  pliable, 
with  less  waste  of  material.  Rut  practical  experience  shows  that  the 
cost  of  preparing  the  spools  and  mounting  the  loom  is  so  great,  for 
the  elaboi-ate  patterns  the  ability  to  accomplish  which  forms  the 
special  achievement,  as  to  be  prohibitive  except  in  large  quantities. 
Plate  VIII  illustrates  the  kind  of  thing  at  which  the  spool  axminster 
loom  is  most  successful,  elaborate  and  complicated  picture  designs  for 
which  there  is  a  market  in  hundreds,  in  other  words  which  appeal  to 
the  multitude.  Similar  small  rugs  are  made  in  wilton  velvet,  but 
less  perfectly.  Plate  IX  illustrates  one  of  the  most  successful  pat- 
terns in  spool  axminster  carpeting,  one  of  the  kind  where  delicate 
shading  gives  the  roundness  of  shapes  that  makes  the  flowers  and 
other  objects  realistic,  but  which  is  objected  to  by  those  who  maintain, 
like  William  Morris,  that  underfoot  design  should  be  flat. 

SEHNA   AXMINSTER 

Until  very  recently,  it  seemed  that  the  spool  axminster  process 
was  the  last  word  that  could  be  uttered  on  the  subject  of  weaving 
elaborately  patterned  carpets  and  rugs  by  machinery;  but  the  sehna 
axminster  loom,  as  I  choose  to  call  it  in  this  article,  though  without 
the  sanction  of  the  manufacturers,  has  accomplished  the  impossible. 
It  actually  produces  seamless  rugs  of  all  sizes,  the  pile  of  which  is 
not  looped  around  wefts,  as  in  spool  axminster,  and  in  brussels  and 
wilton  and  their  imitations,  but  is  tied  around  pairs  of  warps  with  the 
sehna  knot  exactly  as  in  Oriental  rugs.  The  process  is  interesting. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  loom  controls  each  point  of  the  design  with 
the  jacquard;  and  makes  the  knot  by  manipulating  the  warps,  some- 

J69 


Plate  X— AMERICAN  CHENILLE  AXMINSTER 
Mottled  field  with  plain  stripe  border 


m^ 


Mid 


?^1 


^V%^V%/*^ 


Plate  XI— WILTON  CARPETING  MADE  IN  MASSACHUSETTS 


Plate  XII— BRUSSELS  CARPETING  MADE  IN  MASSACHUSETTS 

iro 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

what  as  they  are  manipulated  on  the  nottingham  lace  and  lace  curtain 
machines.  The  result  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  an  Oriental  rug 
of  the  Mahal  or  Muskhabad  type,  but  of  superior  quality.  The 
texture  and  the  back  are  the  same,  and  the  fringe  is  a  self -fringe  made 
by  knotting  the  warjjs  by  hand  after  the  rug  comes  from  the  loom. 
No  one  unaware  of  the  existence  of  this  loom  would  suspect  that  the 
10  by  12  rug  illustrated  in  Plate  XIII  was  not  made  by  hand- 
knotting.  The  result  is  identical.  There  is  no  difference.  Injured 
and  stained  spots  can  be  replaced  by  hand-knotting,  just  as  in  Oriental 
rugs,  and  rugs  can  be  cut  down  and  reshaped  at  will.  I  was  over- 
whelmed with  surprise  when  I  looked  over  50  of  these  sehna  axmin- 
sters  in  large  sizes.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  they  will  ultimately 
suijplant  some  of  the  "modernised  and  standardised"  Persian  and 
other  Oriental  rugs  formerly  imported  into  the  United  States  in 
enormous  quantities. 

SPANISH  AND  OTHER  EMBROIDERED  RUGS 

Among  embroidered  rugs,  the  most  interesting  are  those  that 
have  come  down  to  us  from  the  Spanish  Renaissance,  like  the  one 
in  the  main  hall  of  the  Decorative  Arts  Wing  of  the  Metropolitan 
Museum,  illustrated  in  Plate  XIV.  The  colours  are  characteristic 
Spanish  greens,  blues  and  yellows,  and  the  design  is  interesting  and 
well  composed.  An  example  of  "Turkey  work,"  of  the  kind  referred 
to  in  Chapter  VII,  is  the  bedspread  signed  "M.  B.  1809"  in  the 
Colonial  Room  in  the  basement  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum.  An 
interesting  cross-stitch  embroidered  rug  in  the  same  room  is  the  one 
made  in  Northeastern  New  York  about  1810,  and  lent  to  the  museum 
by  Miss  Mygatt.  It  was  made  in  strips  a  yard  wide,  which  were  then 
sewed  together.  The  border  has  shell-bearing  bands  on  each  side  of 
a  fret  band,  and  the  field  consists  of  diagonal  wavy  bands  of  roses 
intersecting  one  another  at  right  angles,  with  plain  squares  between 
the  intersections. 

As  for  rag  carpets  and  fibre  rugs  and  grass  rugs,  everybody 
knows  them.  They  are  all  made  on  the  same  plan,  big  heavy  wefts 
with  slender  cotton  binders.  Twenty  years  ago  the  rag  carpet  indus- 
try was  an  important  one,  and  housewives  all  over  the  United  States 
used  to  sew  their  rags  into  long  strips  to  be  woven  into  rugs  at  the 
local  factory.  Now  rag  carpets  are  mostly  made  out  of  new  rags,  as 
are  the  round  and  oval  carpets  sewed  together  out  of  pleated  braids 

171 


Plate  XIII— FKKEGHAN  HUG  MADE  IN   MASSACHUSETTS 
With  machine-tied  Sehna  knot 


.->^-^^!i^ 


Plate  XIV     LARGE  SPANISH  RENAISSANCE- EM13ROU)ERED  RUG 

172 


CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

of  rags.  The  home  industry  part  has  mostly  disappeared.  There  are 
to  be  seen  examples  of  both  kinds  of  rag  carpet  in  several  rooms  at 
Mt.  Vei-non.  Last  but  not  least  come  the  Colonial  "hooked  rugs," 
many  of  which  artistically  are  worthy  of  comparison  with  fine  Oriental 
rugs,  ajul  also  nearly  ctjual  them  in  cost.  The  modern  examples  are 
less  interesting  than  the  ancient  ones. 

Credit  for  illustrations:  Plates  I,  II,  III,  I\',  X,  tlic  Persian  Uujr  Maiuifactorv;  Plates 
VI  to  IX,  the  Alexander  Smith  &  Sons  Carpet  Co.;  Plates  XI,  XII,  M.  ,1.  Whittall;  Plate  XIII, 
the  United  States  Persian  Carpet  Co.;  Plate  XIV,  the  Metrojjolitan  Museum  of  Art. 


% 


CHAPTER  IX 

CHINESE  AND  BOKHARA  RUGS 

Most  things  Oriental  are  mysterious,  especially  Oriental  rugs. 
Not  until  the  publication  of  the  great  Vienna  book,  of  which  Sir  C. 
Purrlon  Clarke  was  the  English  editor,  did  order  begin  to  be  evolved 
from  the  chaos  of  Oriental  rug  classification.  Since  then  many  popu- 
lar books  have  been  published  on  the  subject,  some  of  which  should 
have  been  suppressed,  as  they  only  multiplied  the  confusion  already 
existing.  Among  the  volumes  in  English  that  deserve  serious  consid- 
eration are  those  by  Mr.  Mumford,  Mr.  Hawley  and  Dr.  Lewis.  As 
far  as  America  is  concerned,  Mr.  Mumford,  blazed  the  path  along 
which  others  have  followed.  Mr.  Hawley's  book  is  especially  to  be 
commended  for  its  painstaking  marshalling  of  facts  and  details,  and 
for  its  line  illustrations  of  motifs  and  borders.  Among  the  Europeans 
who  have  done  most  to  increase  knowledge  about  Oriental  rugs  are 
Dr.  Martin,  Dr.  Bode  and  Mr.  Vincent  Robinson. 

In  studying  Oriental  rugs,  one  should  begin  with  the  great 
divisions.  One  should  learn  to  distinguish  Chinese  rugs  from  Bokhara 
rugs;  Caucasian  rugs  from  Turkish  rugs;  Persian  rugs  from  those 
made  in  India.  After  that,  it  is  time  enough  to  begin  to  separate  the 
different  varieties  of  Caucasian  from  each  other,  Daghestans,  for 
example,  from  Cabistans;  or  in  the  Turkish  group,  Ghiordes  rugs 
from  Kulahs;  or  in  the  Persian  group,  Fereghans  from  Kirmans. 

In  this  chapter  I  shall  confine  myself  to  the  Chinese  group  and 
to  the  Bokhara  group. 

Chinese  rugs  have  an  especially  distinctive  character.  The  weave 
is  so  loose  and  coarse,  the  colours  so  pale  and  delicate,  with  all  strong 
reds  absent,  and  with  blues  and  yellows  predominating.  The  designs, 
with  few  exceptions,  are  of  native  Chinese  origin,  found  also  in 
Chinese  silks,  porcelains  and  other  Chinese  works  of  art. 

However,  until  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Europe 
174 


CHINESE  AND  BOKHARA  RUGS 

and  America  were  not  aware  that  beautiful  rugs  had  been  produced 
in  China.  Not  until  then  did  a  few  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
century  examples  begin  to  attract  attention  and  admiration  in  Paris, 
London  and  New  York.  Since  then,  as  a  result  of  the  Boxer  Revo- 
lution, and  other  internal  Chinese  troubles,  thousands  of  Chinese  rugs 
have  been  sold  at  auction  as  well  as  at  private  sale  in  both  Europe  and 
America.  Much  of  the  important  literature  on  the  subject  of  Chinese 
rugs  has  been  in  the  form  of  sale  catalogues.  Among  the  best  of 
these  are  the  three  prepared  by  Mrs.  Ripley  for  the  Tiffany  Studios, 
and  published  in  1906,  1907  and  1908,  respectively.  To  these  three 
de  luxe  catalogues,  the  editions  of  which  were  small  and  the  circula- 
tion limited,  I  am  indebted  for  valuable  material. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  detached  motifs  found  on  Chinese  rugs 
are  based  on  the  three  great  religions  of  China — Confucianism, 
Taoism  and  Buddhism  (Plate  II).  Most  of  the  designs  and  symbols 
that  belong  to  the  literati  (learned  men),  as  well  as  those  that  illus- 
trate the  religious  worship  required  of  the  Mandarins  who  on  festival 
occasions  represent  the  Emperor,  and  have  charge  of  the  ritual  of  the 
state,  are  of  Confucian  origin.  Among  the  symbols  most  often  used 
are  scrolls,  chessboards,  inkstands,  brushes,  lutes  and  other  musical 
instruments,  together  with  the  "eight  ordinary  symbols":  hollow 
lozenge,  solid  lozenge,  sounding  stone,  rhinoceros  horns,  coin,  books, 
round  ball  or  pearl,  leaf.  Taoism,  the  religion  of  fear,  has  supplied 
weavers  with  many  designs  that  illustrate  belief  in  astrology,  lucky 
signs  and  geomantic  influences.  Those  most  frequently  found  in  rugs 
are  the  "emblems  of  the  eight  immortals" :  castanets,  flower  baskets, 
flute,  lotus  pod,  sword,  fan,  bamboo  musical  instrument,  gourd. 
Buddhism  has  also  influenced  the  decorative  arts  of  China  materially, 
and  we  are  apt  to  find  some  suggestion  of  its  influence,  even  when 
the  origin  of  the  main  features  of  a  design  can  be  traced  to  one  of 
the  two  earlier  religions.  The  "eight  Buddhist  symbols"  are:  wheel, 
knot  of  destiny,  canopy,  umbrella,  lotus  blossom,  urn,  conch  shell, 
twin  fishes. 

Chinese  naturalists  divide  the  animals  into  five  classes,  the  first 
three  of  which  are  headed  by  fabulous  creatures:  (1)  the  hairy 
animals  headed  by  the  unicorn  (kilin);  (2)  the  feathered  animals 
headed  by  the  phcenix  (funglnvang);  (3)  tlie  scaly  animals  headed  by 
the  dragon  (lung) ;  (4)  the  shelly  animals  headed  by  the  tortoise.  At 
the  head  of  the  naked  animals  ( 5 )  stands  man. 

175 


Plate  I— CHINESE  RUG  OF  THE  KIEX-LUNG  DYNASTY 

176 


CHINESE  AXD  BOKHARA  RUGS 

The  Chinese  dragon  is  a  unique  creation.  In  its  archaic  form  it 
appeal's  as  a  huge  Hzard  in  old  fret  borders  of  rugs.  The  Imperial 
dragon  has  five  claws  on  each  of  his  four  feet,  and  only  the  Emperor 
and  princes  of  the  first  and  second  rank  are  allowed  to  use  the  five- 
clawed  variety.  The  dragon  is  often  pictured  as  regarding  or  hold- 
ing a  round  pearl  (chin).  This  is  said  to  symbolise  the  effort  of  the 
dragon  to  seek  and  guard  wisdom,  and  protect  it  from  the  attack  of 
demons  and  evil  spirits.  Here  we  have  the  origin  of  the  claw-and- 
ball  foot  so  often  found  on  English  chairs  of  the  Georgian  period. 
The  Imperial  dragon  of  Japan  has  but  three  claws. 

The  Chinese  phoenix  is  a  kind  of  pheasant  with  silky-feathered 
neck  and  peacock  tail,  that  lives  in  the  highest  regions  of  the  air,  and 
only  approaches  men  to  announce  happy  events  and  prosperous 
reigns.  The  stork  (ho)  is  one  of  the  most  conunon  emblems  of 
longevity,  and  is  fabled  to  stop  eating  at  the  age  of  six  hundred  years, 
and  at  the  age  of  two  thousand  years  to  turn  black.  The  bat  is  an 
emblem  of  happiness.  Common  all-over  i)atterns  for  the  field  of 
Chinese  rugs  are  the  "tiger  stripe,"  and  the  "rice  grain." 

Of  the  large,  round  medallions  used  in  the  field  of  many  Chinese 
rugs,  sometimes  one,  sometimes  three,  four  or  five,  Mr.  Hawley  gives 
an  interesting  page  of  illustrations  in  his  book  named  above.  Many 
of  the  oldest  medallions  were  copied  from  mirror  backs,  and  have 
straight-line  designs  except  as  embellished  by  conventional  dragons. 
During  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  scrolls  began  to 
replace  the  straight  lines,  and  these  in  tiu'n  were  replaced  in  the 
eighteenth  century  by  naturalistic  leaves  and  flowers. 

Often  on  the  field  of  Chinese  rugs  appear  Chinese  lions  or  lion 
dogs  playing  with  a  ball.  Sometimes  all  the  twelve  animals  which 
stand  in  China  for  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac  are  introduced  in  the  field, 
or  border  of  rugs.  These  signs  are:  the  ox,  the  tiger,  the  hare,  the 
dragon,  the  serpent,  the  horse,  the  goat,  the  monkey,  the  cat,  the  dog, 
the  bear,  the  rat. 

Important  to  the  student  and  the  dealer  in  Chinese  rugs  is  a 
knowledge  of  Chinese  colour  symbolism,  black  standing  for  water, 
niercury,  iron,  etc. ;  green  for  wood,  tin,  etc. 


Colours 

Elements 

Metals 

Planets 

Directions 

Seasons 

Black 

Water 

Iron 

Mercury 

North 

Winter 

Green 

Wood 

Tin   ■ 

Jupiter 

South 

Spring 

Red 

Fire 

Copper 

Mars 

Kast 

Sun)nier 

White 

Metal 

Silver 

Venus 

West 

Autumn 

Yellow 

Earth 

Gold 

Saturn 

.\iiddle 

177 


CHINESE  AND  BOKHARA  RUGS 

The  warp  of  Chinese  rugs  is  ahnost  always  of  cotton.  Conse- 
(luently  the  end  selvages  and  the  fringes  are  unimportant,  as  cotton 
does  not  make  interesting  selvages  or  fringes.  Of  course  some  of  the 
very  finest  rugs,  those  with  woollen  as  well  as  those  with  silk  pile  have 
a  silk  warp.  In  Chinese  rugs  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  spinning 
of  the  wool  is  less  regular,  the  texture  apt  to  be  coarser,  the  colour 
tones  apt  to  be  darker  than  in  those  made  since.  Especially  frequent 
are  dark  browns  that  hii\e  often  rotted  away  the  wool  because  of  the 
destructive  quality  of  the  dye.  The  designs  of  seventeenth  century 
Chinese  rugs  are  more  geometrical  and  rectilinear  than  those  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  They  are  also  distinctly  archaic,  especially  those 
of  the  first  half  of  the  century,  belonging  to  the  Ming  period. 

In  tlie  last  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  influence  of 
Persian  rugs  begins  to  make  itself  apparent  in  Chinese  rugs.  Also 
in  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth  and  the  whole  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  thei'c  is  a  very  curious  and  interesting  parallelism  between 
Chinese  and  French  rulers  and  styles.  The  Emperor  Kang-hi  corre- 
sponds to  the  French  King  Louis  XIV  and  to  the  Regence.  The 
Emperors  Yung-cheng  and  Kien-lung  correspond  to  the  French  Kings 
Louis  XV  and  Louis  XVI.  Compared  with  the  style  of  Louis  XIV, 
that  of  Louis  XV  is  a  naturalistic  and  unsymmetrical  style.  So  is  the 
style  of  Kien-lung  as  compared  with  that  of  Kang-hi.  This  general- 
isation is  based  on  observed  facts  and  will  be  found  very  helpful  in 
classifying  Chinese  rugs,  and  in  correcting  errors  of  classification  that 
may  have  been  made  by  others,  although  it  nmst  be  remembered  that 
in  all  periods  the  Chinese  have  always  been  especially  fond  of  repro- 
ducing the  glories  of  the  jiast,  in  other  words,  of  copying  the  successes 
of  their  ancestors.  Undoubtedly  many  of  the  Chinese  rugs  sold  in  the 
past  few  years  as  antique  are  late  nineteenth  or  twentieth  century 
reproductions.  Today  ancient  Chinese  rugs  are  being  copied  not  only 
in  China  but  also  in  India  and  Bulgaria. 

Noteworthy  about  Chinese  rugs  is  the  fact  that  most  of  the 
designs  are  less  continuous  than  in  Persian  and  other  Oriental  rugs. 
The  motifs  are  apt  to  be  detached,  and  separated  from  each  other  by 
spaces  of  solid  colour.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  rugs  that  show 
the  signs  and  symbols  of  the  literati.  Also,  the  borders  of  Chinese 
rugs  are  nuich  less  imjjortant  than  those  of  most  other  Oriental  rugs. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  Chinese  rugs  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  narrowest  borders  of  all  are  those  woven  in  the  first  half  of 

179 


Plate  III— CHIXESK  KUG  OF  THE  KANG-HI   DYXASTV 

Piittcriicd   with  svihIkiIs  of  the  Literati 


Plate  Ilia— CHINESE  KLG  Ol'  THE  KANG-HI  DYNASTY 

180 


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m^'M^4^:^^.^^^^ 


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es 

w 
en 

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X 

I 


Plate  V— CHINESE  RUG  OF  THE  MING  DYNASTY 


H 


7vX  \   \A  ^    \  Nil 


I'liite  VI— SAMARCANI)  RUG 

183 


CHINESE  AND  BOKHARA  RUGS 

the  seventeenth  century,  that  is  to  say,  of  rugs  of  the  Ming  period. 

The  pile  of  Chinese  rugs  is  comparatively  high,  so  that  it  leans 
over  even  more  than  the  pile  of  Kazak  rugs,  and  gives  the  Chinese 
rugs  a  peculiarly  silky  lustre. 

Whilst  Samarcand  is  now  in  Russian  Central  Asia,  it  was  once 
a  part  of  Chinese  Turkestan,  and  suhject  for  centuries  to  Chinese 
dominion.  Consequently  one  should  not  be  surprised  at  finding  that 
Samarcand  rugs  are  Chinese  rugs,  though  with  a  strong  leaning 
toward  Persian.  In  other  words,  Samarcand  rugs  might  be  desci'ibed 
as  Chinese-Persian  rugs.  The  designs  are  apt  to  be  more  continuous 
than  those  of  otlier  Chinese  rugs,  and  the  borders  more  important, 
although  the  weave  is  almost  like  that  of  other  Chinese  rugs,  and  the 
knot  is  the  same ;  that  is  to  say,  the  knot  used  is  the  Sehna. 

GHIORDES  AND  SEHNA  KNOTS 

At  this  point  I  should  perhaps  explain  that  an  Oriental  rug  knot 
is  tied  around  a  pair  of  warps.  To  make  a  Ghiordes  knot,  lay  a  short 
piece  of  wool  over  a  pair  of  warp  threads;  then  draw  the  ends  up 
through  between  the  two  warps  and  pull  tight.  The  result  is  a 
Ghiordes  knot.  In  the  Sehna  knot,  one  of  the  ends  twists  the  other 
way  around  its  warp,  so  that  it  comes  up  outside,  instead  of  inside 
the  pair  of  warps.  In  other  words,  when  the  Sehna  knot  is  used, 
single  knot  ends  alternate  with  single  warps,  when  the  Ghiordes  knot 
is  used,  pairs  of  knot  ends  alternate  with  pairs  of  warps, 

BOKHARA  RUGS 

Bokhara  rugs  are  also  woven  with  the  Sehna  knot.  Bokhara 
rugs  are  just  as  nuich  distinguished  for  rich  reds  as  Chinese  rugs  are 
by  the  absence  of  them.  Bokhara  rugs  are  much  more  closely  woven 
than  Chinese  rugs,  and  the  pile  is  trimmed  much  shorter.  Bokhara 
rugs  are  woven  in  Russian  Central  Asia  east  of  the  Caspian  Sea, 
along  the  line  of  the  Transcaspian  Railway  and  also  by  the  wandering 
tribes  of  Afghanistan  and  Belouchistan.  The  patterns  of  Bokhai'a 
rugs  are  radically  different  from  those  of  Chinese  rugs.  They  are 
without  exception  rectilinear,  and  the  favourite  motifs  are  the  octagon 
and  other  polygonal  shapes  based  on  the  jjatterns  of  marble-tiled  and 
inlaid  floors.  Instead  of  cotton  warps,  they  have  woollen  warps,  and 
frequently  long  end  selvages,  and  fringes.  Often  these  selvages  are 
ornamented  with  embroidery  or  tapestry  or  broche  figures. 

183 


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CHINESE  AND  BOKHARA  RUGS 

t 

The  i)rinc'ij)al  divisions  of  this  group  are  Royal,  Princess,  Tekke, 

Yonuid,  Afghan,  Relouche,  Reshir,  Pinde.  The  character  of  the  dif- 
ferent designs  is  made  clear  by  the  accompanying  illustrations.  The 
finest  and  most  exquisite  rugs  of  the  Bokhara  group  are  the  so-called 
Royal  Bokharas  made  in  the  Khanate  of  Bokhara,  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  city  of  Bokhara,  which  is  the  capital  of  the  Khanate  and  is  situ- 
ated on  the  Transcaspian  railway,  and  has  always  been  the  most 
hnportant  shipping  point  for  Bokhara  rugs.  Whilst  octagon  motifs 
are  characteristic  of  Royal  Bokharas,  crosses  or  katchlis  are  equally 
distinctive  of  Princess  Bokharas.  As  the  illustration  shows,  the  field 
of  a  Princess  rug  is  divided  into  four  quarters  by  a  cross  intersecting 
at  the  centre  of  the  rug.  Rough  and  crude  as  compared  with  these 
rugs,  but  nevertheless  interesting,  are  those  woven  by  the  Tekke  and 
Yomud  semi-nomadic  tribes  that  inhabit  the  country  between  Bokhara 
and  the  Caspian  Sea.  Of  Beshirs  not  only  the  designs,  but  also  the 
brick  red  colom'ation  are  distinctive.  The  Belouche  Bokharas  woven 
by  the  tribes  of  Belouchistan  are  a  varied  group  in  small  sizes,  many 
of  them  of  inferior  quality.  The  end  selvages  are  apt  to  be  very 
wide  and  often  interesting.  Camel's  hair  often  appears  in  its  natural 
coloiu"  in  the  field.  Of  all  the  Bokhara  rugs,  the  only  kind  that  comes 
regularly  in  large  sizes  is  the  Afghans.  The  traditional  pattern  con- 
sists of  three  rows  of  large  octagons,  almost  in  contact.  The  quar- 
ters of  the  octagon  usually  alternate  red  and  blue. 

Very  diff'ercnt  are  the  backs  of  Bokhara  rugs  from  those  of 
Chinese  rugs.  On  the  backs  of  Chinese  rugs  the  coarse  weft  threads 
that  pass  back  and  forth  after  every  two  rows  of  knots,  are  plainly 
visible.  In  Bokhara  rugs  these  weft  threads  are  comparatively  fine, 
and  almost  hidden  by  the  woollen  knots  that  encircle  the  warps. 

Credit  for  illustrations:     Plates  I,  II,  III,  IV,  V,  the  Tiffany  Studios;  Plates  VI  to  XI, 
A.  U.  Dilley. 


CHAPTER  X 

CAUCASIAN  AND  TURKISH  RUGS 

Turkish  is  the  proper  name  for  Oriental  rugs  woven  in  Turkey. 
Caucasian  is  the  proper  name  for  Oriental  rugs  woven  in  the  Caucasus, 
which  is  the  part  of  Russia  between  the  Caspian  and  the  Black  Seas. 
In  Europe,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  Turkish  rugs  was  a  general 
term  for  all  Oriental  rugs.  The  great  central  market  for  Oriental 
rugs  is  still  Constantinople. 

The  Turkish  Empire  was  at  the  height  of  its  splendour  in  the  six- 
teenth century  under  Soliman  the  Magnificent,  the  contemporary  of 
the  Emperor  Charles  V.  It  had  been  founded  at  the  beginning  of 
the  fourteenth  century  by  the  Ottoman  Turks,  on  the  ruins  of  the 
Empire  of  the  Seljuk  Turks  in  Anatolia.  During  the  next  century 
and  a  half  it  was  extended  westward  into  Europe,  and  Adrianople 
became  its  capital.  In  1453  the  Ottoman  Turks  captured  the  last 
stronghold  of  the  ancient  Roman  Empire,  Constantinople,  which 
since  then  has  been  Mohammedan  instead  of  Christian. 

By  1840  the  power  of  the  Turkish  Empire  had  so  declined  that 
only  the  interference  of  the  Quadruple  Alliance  prevented  its  down- 
fall. Again  in  1853,  and  still  again  in  1878,  the  European  powers 
intervened  to  prevent  the  Russians  from  crushing  Turkey.  Egyjjt, 
formerly  tributary  to  Turkey,  is  now  British,  having  been  acquired 
in  order  to  control  the  Suez  Canal  and  the  route  to  India.  Among 
other  territories,  the  control  of  which  had  been  taken  from  Turkey 
by  the  European  powers,  are  Bulgaria,  Bosnia,  Crete  and  Cyprus. 
The  Turkish  Empire  is  a  medley  of  races  and  of  religions,  the  dom- 
inant Turks  being  nuich  in  the  minority,  and  not  over  half  of  the  popu- 
lation being  Mohammedan.  Other  important  races  are  the  Arabs, 
Armenians,  Kurds,  Greeks,  Jews,  Slavs,  Albanians. 

The  Caucasus  might  be  described  as  a  Russian  isthmus  connect- 
ing Europe  and  Asia,  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Caspian  Sea  and  on 

186 


Plate  I— AN  ESPECIALLY  FINE  LADIK  RUG 
187 


Plate  II— KAZAK  KUG 


Plate  III— GUENJE  RUG 
188 


CAUCASIAN  AND  TUIIKISII  RUGS 

the  west  by  the  IJlaek  Sea.  The  Caucasus  Mountains,  seven  hun(h-ed 
and  fifty  miles  long,  and  loftier  than  the  Alps,  cross  the  country  from 
northwest  to  southeast,  sejiarating  Northern  Caucasia  from  Trans- 
caucasia. The  capital  and  principal  rug  market  is  Tiflis.  A  railway 
six  hundred  and  twenty-one  miles  long  connects  Batuni  on  the  IJlack 
Sea  with  Baku  on  the  Casjjian  Sea,  via  Tiflis.  Nowhere  else  in  the 
world  is  there  such  a  confusion  of  races  and  languages,  the  number 
of  dialects  being  estimated  at  sixty-eight.  A  majority  of  the  people 
belong  to  the  Russian  Church,  though  Mohammedans  are  many.  The 
area  of  the  Caucasus  is  three  and  one-half  times  that  of  New  York 
State,  and  the  population  about  the  same.  The  Russians  first 
entered  the  Caucasus  in  1770,  and  by  1800  had  acquired  practically 
all  of  Northern  Caucasia. 

In  1813,  having  conquered  Persia  in  a  two  years'  war  instigated 
by  France,  the  Russians  acquired  Daghestan,  Shirvan,  Baku  and  the 
right  of  navigation  on  the  Caspian  Sea.  In  1828,  as  the  result  of 
another  war  with  Persia,  they  acquired  the  bulk  of  Persian  Armenia. 
In  1878,  as  the  result  of  a  successful  war  with  Turkey,  they  acquired 
the  most  important  part  of  Tiu'kish  Armenia. 

Next  to  Constantinople,  Tiflis  is  the  most  important  rug  market 
in  the  world.  It  is  the  political  and  military  capital  of  the  Caucasus, 
and  has  been  developed  by  Russia  in  a  manner  worthy  of  its  impor- 
tance, having  wide,  paved  streets,  lighted  by  electricity;  large  and 
handsome  shops,  street  cars  running  in  all  directions,  imposing  jjublic 
buildings,  a  magnificent  cathedral,  an  elaborate  opera  house,  an 
interesting  museum  of  natural  history,  and  excellent  hotels.  But 
whilst  one-half  of  Tiflis  is  handsome,  safe  and  civilised  like  Europe, 
the  other  half  is  purely  Oriental — narrow  streets,  mysterious  houses 
with  shuttered  windows  and  closed  tloors;  merchants  grouped  by 
trades,  the  rug  dealers  in  one  quarter,  the  makers  of  weapons  in 
another,  and  so  forth. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  ORIENTAL  KUGS 

It  is  perhaj)s  unnecessary  to  announce  here  that  the  classifica- 
tion of  Oriental  rugs  is  not  an  exact  science.  Every  dealer  has  his 
own  system,  based  upon  his  personal  experience  and  reading,  and 
the  more  experience  he  has  the  less  likely  he  is  to  attach  supreme 
importance  to  minor  subdivisions.  I  shall  endeavour  to  introduce  into 
these  chapters  only  terms  that  are  commonlj'  accepted  and  used. 

189 


Plate  IV— DAGHKSTAN  KUG 

190 

/ 


CAUCASIAN  AND  TURKISH  RUGS 

One  might  as  well  admit  at  the  start  that  it  is  hnpossible  to  learn 
a  great  deal  about  Oriental  rugs  from  books  or  magazine  articles,  no 
matter  how  excellent  they  may  be,  unless  the  book  knowledge  be 
backgrounded  by  much  actual  experience  with  rugs.  Photographs 
only  remotely  suggest  the  rugs  themselves.  They  entirely  eliminate 
the  texture,  which  is  what  makes  Oriental  rugs  really  worth  while. 

CAUCASIAX  RUGS 

The  weavers  of  Caucasian  rugs  have  a  passion  for  the  straight 
lines  and  the  mosaic  effects  that  have  put  Caucasian  rugs  in  a  class 
by  themselves.  Caucasian  rugs  illustrate  the  highest  development  of 
the  extreme  conventionalisation  of  primitive  design.  Primitive  peo- 
ple easily  and  naturally  interjiret  nature  forms  in  simple  but  charac- 
teristic straight  line  figures,  and  it  is  always  reserved  for  the  art  of 
civilisation  to  express  itself  in  the  curves  and  flowing  lines  of  nature. 
Caucasian  designs  have  remained  true  to  the  first  inspirations,  though 
elaborating  themselves  in  the  most  complicated  and  delicate  patterns. 
The  colours,  too,  are  distinctive — blue,  red,  ivory,  yellow,  green — - 
intricately  and  interestingly  combined,  though  seldom  or  never  with 
the  perfect  feeling  for  colour  that  is  characteristic  of  Chinese  and 
Persian  rugs. 

Among  the  Caucasian  rugs,  the  most  individual  and  striking  are 
the  Kazaks  (Plate  II).  They  have  an  extraordinary  lustre,  particu- 
larly the  fine  old  pieces,  which  is  not  surpassed  by  that  of  any  other 
type  of  Oriental  rugs.  Yet  they  are  exceedingly  coarse  in  texture, 
and  very  loosely  woven  out  of  very  coarse  wool,  that  is  left  very  long 
so  that  the  surface  of  Kazak  rugs  might  be  described  as  shaggy.  The 
extraordinary  silkiness  is  due  to  the  coarseness  of  the  weave,  and  to 
the  length  of  the  pile.  Because  of  the  loose  texture,  the  pile  cannot 
stand  up  straight  but  leans  far  over,  thus  reflecting  much  of  the  light 
as  does  satin,  instead  of  swallowing  it  up  as  do  rugs  of  closer  weave 
and  finer  texture.  Coarseness  marks  the  design  as  well  as  the  weave. 
Kazak  rugs  have  bolder  figures,  and  stronger  colourings  than  other 
Caucasians.  While  the  motifs  are  similar,  the  scale  of  the  design  is 
much  larger.  Most  Kazak  rugs  are  nearly  square  in  shape,  and  they 
come  in  small  and  medium  sizes  only.  The  predominating  colours 
are  red,  ivory,  blue  and  green,  much  richer  in  effect  than  the  colours 
of  other  Caucasian  rugs.  The  name  Kazak  is  the  same  as  Cossack, 
and  the  rugs  are  made  by   Cossack  tribes  who  live  in   Southern 

191 


Plate  V— SHIR  VAX  HUG 


192 


CAUCASIAN  AND  TURKISH  RUGS 

Caucasiji,  in  the  district  of  Erivan  near  Mount  Ararat,  where  Russia, 
Persia  and  Turkey  meet,  and  where  Noah's  Ark  is  said  to  have  landed 
thousands  of  years  ago,  and  where  the  faithful  say  it  can  still  be  seen 
b}^  those  who  are  sufficiently  spiritually  gifted. 

Guenje  rugs  (Plate  III)  take  their  name  from  the  city  of  Ganja 
(now  Elisabethpol)  ninety  miles  southeast  of  Tiflis,  where  they  are 
marketed.  Guenjes  resemble  Kazaks  in  design,  colour  and  texture, 
but  are  usually  thinner  and  coarser,  and  the  colours  are  generally 
much  inferior.  For  pin-poses  of  ready  reference  and  quick  identifica- 
tion, Guenjes  might  be  described  as  "poor  Kazaks,"  and  Kazaks  as 
"fine  Guenjes." 

Between  Daghestans  (Plate  IV)  and  Shirvans  (Plate  V)  there 
exists  much  the  same  difference  as  between  Kazaks  and  Guenjes. 
Both  Daghestans  and  Shirvans  have  a  comparatively  short  pile — not 
long  and  shaggy  like  the  Kazaks  and  the  Guenjes — but  the  designs 
of  the  Daghestans  are  much  finer  and  more  intricate,  and  the  weave 
is  much  finer  with  from  forty  to  sixty  per  cent,  more  knots  to  the 
square  inch.  Daghestans  also  tend  to  be  squarer  in  shape  than 
Shirvans.    Both  come  in  small  sizes  only. 

Long  and  narrow  rugs  of  the  Daghestan  group  are  called 
Cabistans  (Plate  VIII)  from  the  city  of  Kuba  in  the  Province  of 
Daghestan.  These  Cabistans  vary  greatly  in  type,  some  of  them 
having  a  hard  texture  like  other  Daghestans  and  some  having  a  com- 
paratively soft  texture,  with  designs  that  show  more  Persian  influence 
and  feeling. 

An  interesting  feature  of  many  rugs  of  the  Daghestan  group 
are  the  tiny  human  and  animal  figures,  drawn  most  crudely  and  rudely 
in  straight  lines,  and  scattered  at  random  here  and  there  over  the  fields 
of  the  rugs.  The  rugs  of  the  Caucasian  group  that  show  most  Persian 
influence  are  the  Karadaghs,  which  might  almost  be  described  as 
Caucasian  Kurdistans.  They  are  particularly  distinguished  by  their 
magenta  reds. 

Chichis  (Plate  VI)  separate  themselves  from  other  Daghestans 
by  their  olive  greens,  and  by  the  fact  that  their  designs  are  the  most 
intricate  and  crowded  of  all  the  Caucasians.  Noticeable  in  most  of 
the  Bakus  (Plate  VII)  are  the  washed-out  blues  and  the  large  pears 
of  the  designs,  resembling  roughly  the  pears  that  are  so  frequently 
found  in  Persian  rugs,  particularly  in  Serebends.  Noticeable  in  the 
so-called  Lesghian  strips  (Plate  X)  are  the  yellows. 

193 


Plate  VI— CHICHI  KUG 


Plate  VII— BAKU  Hit. 
194 


CAUCASIAN  AND  TURKISH  RUGS 

CASHMERES  AND  SOUMAKS 

The  Cashmeres  (Phite  XI),  otherwise  called  Spuniaks,  are  in 
a  class  quite  by  themselves.  They  have  not  a  pile  surface  like  other 
Oriental  rugs,  but  a  flat  siu-face.  They  are  made  not  by  tying  short 
pieces  of  wool  around  pairs  of  warps,  but  by  twisting  woollen  yarn 
around  the  warp,  over  foiu-  and  then  back  under  two,  then  over  four 
again  and  back  under  two  again,  which  operation  continued  indef- 
initely and  varied  to  produce  certain  variations  of  surface  texture,  pro- 
duces one  of  the  most  durable,  though  not  the  heaviest,  of  floor  cover- 
ings. The  process  is  a  kind  of  modified  tapestry  weaving,  half-way 
l)etween  tajiestry  and  pile  rug  knotting,  and  like  tapestry  weaving 
leaves  many  loose  threads  on  the  back.  Because  of  these  loose  threads, 
and  the  consequent  resemblance  of  Cashmere  rugs  to  the  Cashmere 
shawls  from  India  so  famous  during  the  nineteenth  century,  these 
rugs  got  the  name  Cashmere.  It  is  certainly  a  nuich  more  poetic 
name  than  Soumak,  derived  from  the  name  of  the  town  where  they 
are  marketed.  Because  of  the  peculiar  texture,  the  line  effects — and 
particidarly  the  wliite-line  effects — of  Cashmere  rugs  are  extraordi- 
narily accentuated. 

TURKISH  RUGS 

The  principal  tyjies  of  Turkish  rugs  are  Ghiordes,  Kulahs, 
I^adiks,  Melez,  Oushaks,  Bergamos.  These  are  the  rugs  that  a  few 
years  ago  were  the  especial  pride  and  joy  of  the  American  collector. 
His  status  as  an  amateur  was  determined  by  the  number  of  Ghiordes 
prayer  rugs  that  he  possessed ;  and  if  in  addition  he  had  a  few  Kulahs, 
two  or  three  Ladiks  and  one  or  two  Bergamos,  he  was  almost  entitled 
to  quality  as  an  expert.  It  was  easy  then  to  get  romances  believed. 
American  knowledge  of  decorative  art  was  slight  and  the  very  eager- 
ness to  be  informed  made  Americans  an  easy  prey  to  Oriental  and 
American  importers  of  rugs.  It  was  not  sufficient  then  merely  to  say 
that  a  rug  was  a  "genuine  antique,"  and  then  descant  upon  its  beau- 
ties of  texture  and  colour;  every  important  piece  then  seemed  to  have 
had  some  remarkable  career,  to  have  been  the  property  of  some  famous 
sultan  or  some  famous  mosque.  Nor  was  it  sufficient  then  to  claim  for 
rugs  an  age  of  fifty  or  one  himdred  years;  nothing  less  than  two  or 
three  hundred  years  would  do.  Some  collectors  claimed  to  have  as 
many  as  ten  or  fifteen  Turkish  rugs  dating  from  the  seventeenth  or 
sixteenth  century,  or  even  from  the  fifteenth.     We  know  now  that 

i9r> 


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CAUCASIAN  AND  TURKISH  RUGS 

with  a  few  exceptions,  all  of  these  remarkable  antique  rugs  dated 
from  the  eighteenth  or  nineteenth  century. 

Turkish  rugs  have  designs  that  are  largely  formed  of  straight 
lines.  In  this  they  resemble  the  Caucasians  and  the  Bokharas,  and 
are  unlike  the  Persians  and  most  of  the  Chinese.  But  they  do  not 
have  the  rigid  octagons  of  the  Bokhara  group,  or  the  spiky  points  of 
the  Caucasian  group.  Turkish  rugs  occupy  a  design  position  inter- 
mediate between  Caucasians  and  Persians.  They  excel  Caucasians 
in  grace  of  outline  and  in  warmth  of  colour,  and  they  excel  Persians 
in  strength  of  jjattern.  Especially  in  prayer  rugs  were  the  weavers 
of  Asia  Minor  successful  (Plates"  I,  XIl",  XIII,  XIV  and  XVI). 
In  this  work  they  had  the  inspiration  of  the  most  enthusiastic  piety. 
In  many  of  them  is  pictured  in  considerable  detail  the  mihrab  of  a 
Moslem  chapel,  with  its  hanging  lamp.  Human  figures,  however, 
and  aninuds  of  the  type  found  in  Daghestan  rugs,  never  appear.  The 
Mohammedans  of  Turkey  are  Sunnites,  who  are  very  strict  in  their 
obedience  to  the  Mohammedan  law  against  the  picturing  of  animal 
forms,  unlike  the  Persians  who  are  Shiites.  (See  Animal  Patterns 
in  Chapter  III.) 

GHIORDES  AND  KUI-AH  KUGS 

The  town  of  Ghiordes  that  gives  its  name  to  Ghiordes  rugs 
(Plates  XII,  XIII,  XIV)  is  the  ancient  Gordium  where  Alexander 
the  Great  is  said  to  have  cut  the  Gordian  Knot. 

Especially  in  the  eighteenth  century  were  the  rugs  of  Ghiordes 
worthy  of  comparison  with  the  best  that  were  produced  in  Persia, 
although  in  no  respect  equal  to  the  great  Persian  rugs  of  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries.  But  the  Ghiordes  rugs  woven  in  the  last 
fifty  years  are  so  inferior  to  the  ancient  pieces  in  weave,  colour  and 
pattern  as  not  to  merit  serious  attention. 

The  rugs  that  most  closely  resemble  the  Ghiordes  are  the  Kulahs 
(Plate  XVI),  bearing  about  the  same  relation  to  them  as  Shirvans 
to  Daghestans.  Like  the  Ghiordes,  a  large  proportion  of  the  Kulahs 
have  architectural  or  prayer  niche  patterns,  but  the  field  is  usually 
filled  with  pattern  instead  of  plain  as  in  the  Ghiordes  rugs,  and  the 
borders  consist  of  many  stripes  alternating  in  colour,  instead  of  one 
large  band  with  a  stripe  on  each  side,  as  in  most  Ghiordes  rugs. 

Both  Ghiordes  and  Kulahs  have  a  comparatively  short  pile,  and 
the  designs  are  in  every  way  richer  and  warmer  and  more  floral  than 

197 


Plate  XI— CASHMERE  RUG 


198 


CAUCASIAN  AND  TURKISH  RUGS 

those  of  Caucasian  rugs,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Hke  them  they  are 
rectihnear. 

On  the  ruins  of  ancient  Laodicea  is  the  nuid-walled  town  of 
Ladik,  once  the  centre  of  an  important  rug  industry.  The  pieces  now 
woven  there  imitate  the  ancient  rugs  but  poorly  in  weave  and  colour. 
Of  the  few  ancient  Ladiks  that  still  survive,  that  illustrated  in  colour 
in  Plate  1  is  (me  of  the  finest.  Note  particularly  the  broad  band  in 
the  border,  with  its  Rhodian  lilies.  The  field  of  Ladik  jirayer  rugs, 
like  that  of  Ghiordes  j^rayer  rugs,  is  usually  in  solid  colour. 

Compared  with  Ghiordes,  Kulah,  and  Ladik  rugs,  those  made  in 
Bergamo — that  is  the  ancient  and  famous  city  of  Pergammu — are 
like  Kazaks  as  compared  with  other  Caucasians.  In  other  words, 
they  have  a  deep  pile,  strong  rich  colours, "and  comparatively  coarse 
designs.  At  Oushak  in  the  sixteenth  century  were  made  some  of  the 
finest  rugs  that  survive  in  European  and  American  collections.  But 
the  modern  Oushaks  with  their  coarse  pile  and  strenuous  greens  are 
uglier  even  than  the  machine  rugs  based  on  them. 

In  Chapter  IX  we  noted  that  whilst  Chinese  rugs  have  cotton 
warps,  Bokhara  i-ugs  have  woollen  warps.  Both  Turkish  and 
Caucasian  rugs  have  woollen  warps,  that  sometimes  form  rather 
attractive  knotted  fringes,  especially  in  Daghestans  and  Bergamos. 

We  also  noted  in  Chapter  IX  that  both  Chinese  and  Bokhara 
rugs  are  tied  with  the  Sehna  knot,  which  tends  to  produce  a  closer 
and  more  velvety  surface  than  the  Ghiordes  knot.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  here  that  both  the  Turkish  and  the  Caucasian  group  are  tied 
with  the  Ghiordes  knot,  in  which  the  two  points  of  the  knot  come  up 
together,  instead  of  being  separated  by  a  warp. 

One  of  the  earliest  types  of  Turkish  rugs  with  which  we  are 
familiar  gets  its  name  from  the  great  painter  Holbein,  because  pic- 
tured in  his  paintings,  notably  in  the  celebrated  portrait  of  George 
Gyze  that  hangs  in  the  Berlin  Museum  (Plate  XV) .  The  table  upon 
which  he  rests  his  hand  is  covered  with  a  rug  that  in  type  seems  half- 
way l)etween  Caucasian  and  Turkish.  The  border  is  one  of  the 
so-called  Cufic  borders,  based  upon  an  early  straight  line  form  of  the 
Arabic  alphabet.  As  Holbein  flourished  in  the  first  half  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  and  as  other  similar  rugs  appear  in  the  works  of 
Flemish  and  Italian  painters  of  the  same  period,  we  may  reasonably 
assume  that  some  of  these  rugs  were  made  before  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century  and  that  examples  found  their  way  to  European 

199 


Plate  XII 


Plate  XIII 


':#*-; 


}^ 


GHIORDKS  PRAYER  RUGS 
300 


Plate  XV     PORTRAIT  OF  GEORGK  GYZR  BY  HOLBETN 

Sliowing  !i  Turkisli  rug  with  C'lific  l)or<ler 


■:-f[f^.vrm!^.wf!:0r:iTC.?Jcy.cvs^.  i^ 


I'lutc  X\  I      iWO  TYPIiS  OF  KULAH  RUG 
201 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

centres.     Several  important  examples  of  this  class  are  now  in  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  two  of  them  lent  by  Mr.  C.  F.  Williams. 

Credit  for  illustrations:  Plates  I,  III  to  VI,  VIII,  X,  XI,  A.  U.  Dilley;  Plates  II,  VII, 
XIII,  XIV,  XVI,  the  Tiffany  Studios;  Plate  IX,  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art;  Plate  XII, 
James  F.  Ballard. 


CHAPTER  XI 

PERSIAN  AND  INDIAN  RUGS 

For  centuries  the  world's  finest  rugs  have  been  woven  in  Persia, 
where  the  best  wool  for  the  purpose  is  grown.  The  designs  are  both 
interesting  and  intricate,  and  based  mainly  on  flower  and  leaf  forms, 
although  in  the  sixteentli  centiny  many  animals  apjjeared,  especially 
in  the  so-called  "hunting  rugs."  The  designs  of  Persian  rugs  are  not 
detached,  as  in  so  many  Chinese  rugs,  but  usually  tied  together  into 
all-over  patterns  that  usually  cover  every  inch  of  the  surface  with 
detail.  The  designs  are  also  peculiarly  suited  for  interpretation  in 
rug  texture,  being  flat  without  relief  shading,  and  also  being  vivid 
with  life,  though  not  naturalistic  to  the  extreme  extent  of  many 
ancient  Indian,  and  eighteenth  century  Chinese  rugs.  Compared, 
however,  with  Bokhara  rugs  and  Caucasian  rugs  and  Tiu-kish  rugs, 
Persian  rugs  have  designs  that  are  full  of  curves  and  decidedly  natural- 
istic. Except  in  a  few  isolated  groups,  like  the  rugs  of  Shiraz,  rec- 
tilinear forms  of  the  Caucasian  variety  never  appear. 

Among  design  motifs  often  found  in  Persian  rugs  are  the  Pear, 
the  Shah  Abbas,  the  Mina  Khani,  the  Guli  Hinnai,  the  Herati.  The 
figure  that  on  cashmere  shawls  has  been  known  in  America  and  Eng- 
land for  more  than  a  century  as  the  cone,  because  apparently  rejire- 
senting  the  cone  of  a  pine  tree,  now  gets  a  new  name  from  every- 
body who  writes  about  Oriental  rugs.  It  is  variously  called  the  pear, 
the  pahn,  the  palmette,  the  river  loop,  the  loop,  the  crown  jewel,  the 
flame.  A  common  form  of  this  "cone"  or  "pear"  is  shown  in  the  Sere- 
bend  illustrated  on  Plate  XIII.  The  real  basis  of  the  motif  is  prob- 
ably a  leaf. 

The  famous  Shah  Abbas  motif  (Plate  IX)  consists  of  a  large 
and  mature  but  not  quite  fully  opened  flower,  seen  from  the  side,  and 
often  framed  by  the  outlines  of  a  large  and  symmetrical  pointed  leaf. 
This  motif  bears  a  curiously  close  resemblance  to  the  pomegranate 

203 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

forms  so  nnich  used  in  Western  Europe  hi  the  fifteenth  century  and 
the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth.  It  appears  both  in  the  border  and  in 
the  field  of  the  ancient  rug  illustrated  on  Plate  III. 

The  Mina  Khani  motif  shows  a  large  diamond-shaped  figure  with 
bright  flowers  seen-f  rom-the-face,  on  the  vertices  and  in  the  centre  five 
of  them  in  all.  ( See  description  of  Plate  V  below. )  The  Guli  Hinnai 
motif  shows  a  central  stalk  parallelled  by  three  blossoms  on  each  side. 

The  famous  Herati  or  "fish"  pattern  consists  of  a  rosette  between 
two  slightly  curved  leaves.  This  is  sometimes  called  the  "twin  fish" 
pattern  because  of  the  resemblance  of  the  leaves  to  the  backbone  of  a 
fish.  The  Herati  motif  appears  in  both  the  border  and  the  field  of  the 
Sehna  rug  illustrated  on  Plate  XII.  It  also  appears  in  the  field  of 
the  small  Fereghan  rug  illustrated  on  Plate  XIV,  but  here  is  grouped 
in  sets  of  foin-  around  small  diamond-shaped  medallions,  the  vine 
outlines  of  which  are  much  accentuated. 

Most  Persian  rugs,  ancient  as  well  as  modern,  have  cotton  warps, 
and  consequently  fringes  that  are  comparatively  unimportant.  The 
principal  Persian  rugs  with  woollen  warps  are  those  that  bear  the 
name  Shiraz,  Kin-distan,  Karadagh,  or  Bijar.  Persian  rugs  that  are 
tied  with  the  Sehna  knot,  so  called  from  the  Persian  city  of  Sehna, 
are  those  that  bear  the  names  Sehna,  Kirman,  Khorassan,  Kashan, 
Fereghan,  Saruk  and  Scrape.  The  other  varieties  of  rugs  made  in 
Persia  are  usually  tied  with  the  Ghiordes  knot.  Rugs  tied  with  the 
Sehna  knot  are  apt  to  have  a  shorter  pile  and  a  less  silky  surface, 
but  design  of  greater  intricacy  and  more  definitely  outlined. 

A  splendid  example  of  Karadagh  is  the  one  belonging  to  Mr. 
Howard  Greenley  illustrated  in  colour  on  Plate  V.  The  name  comes 
from  the  Karadagh  Mountains  in  the  extreme  northwestern  part  of 
Persia  where  the  rugs  are  woven,  close  to  the  Caucasian  border.  So 
it  is  not  strange  that  Karadagh  rugs  often  show  rectilinear  and  geo- 
metrical forms  resembling  those  of  Daghestan  and  other  Caucasian 
rugs.  The  rug  before  us,  however,  with  the  Shah  Abbas  motif  in  the 
field  and  a  variant  form  of  the  Mina  Khani  motif  in  the  border,  and 
with  its  rich  and  brilliant  colouration,  suggests  at  once  the  Kurdistan 
runners  that  have  their  long  fields  filled  with  the  Mina  Khani  motif. 

PERSIAN  ANIMAL  RUGS  . 

Of  all  the  ancient  rugs  shown  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of 
Art  in  New  York  City,  I  personally  like  best  the  ancient  sixteenth 

204 


Plate  I— PERSIAN  PKAYER  HUG  OF  THE  SIXTEKXTH  CENTUUY 

Woollen  and  cotton  pile,  broch6  with  gold,  on  cotton  and  silk  web 

In  the  Bavarian  National  Museum  at  Munich 


205 


Plale  II— PERSIAN  RUG  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY 

Woollen  pile  on  silk  web.    In  the  Imperial  Austrian  Commercial  Museiim 

Note  the  imposing  Chinese  cloud  hand  across  the  middle 


206 


wr^r-w- 


Plate  III— ANCIENT  ISPAHAN  HUG,  SHOWING  CHINESE  CLOUD  BANDS 
III  the  Metropolitiiii  Museum 


Plate  IV— PERSIAN  HUG  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 
In  the  Imperial  Austrian  Conunercial  Museum 


207 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

century  animal  rug  illustrated  in  Plate  VI.  It  was  formerly  in  the 
famous  Yerkes  Collection,  from  which  it  was  purchased  at  the  auction 
sale  in  1910  for  the  Metropolitan  Museum  at  a  cost  of  $15,200.  The 
pile  is  of  wool,  hut  both  warp  and  weft  are  of  silk,  thus  making  pos- 
sible the  extraordinarily  fine  texture  of  four  hundred  and  eighty 
knots  to  the  square  inch.  The  length  is  10  feet  11  inches,  the  width 
5  feet  10  inches.  The  ground  of  the  field  is  red,  the  border  ground 
dark  blue. 

The  rug  is  sometimes  called  the  Ardebil  rug  because,  like  the 
famous  larger  piece  at  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  at  South 
Kensington,  it  is  believed  once  to  have  adorned  the  floors  of  the 
Ardebil  Mosque.  The  main  motif  of  the  rug  before  us,  ten  times 
repeated  in  two  parallel  rows,  shows  a  lion  and  a  jackal  attacking  a 
black  Chinese  deer  spotted  with  yellow;  and  the  intervening  spaces 
are  filled  with  wild  boars  and  other  animals  and  with  many  floral 
forms,  some  of  them  peonies  executed  partly  in  silver.  The  main 
band  of  the  border  is  a  fascinating  composition  of  Chinese  cloud  band 
combined  with  flowers  and  with  vine  tracery. 

Another  sixteenth  century  Persian  animal  rug  also  purchased  for 
the  Metropolitan  Museum  from  the  Yerkes  Collection  is  the  one  illus- 
trated on  Plate  VII.  The  middle  band  of  the  border  of  this  rug  is 
unusually  wide,  and  the  guard  stripes  particidarly  narrow,  thus 
reminding  one  very  definitely  of  the  Renaissance  borders  that  appear 
on  Flemish  tapestries  woven  in  the  sixteenth  century  and  the  early 
part  of  the  seventeenth.  The  unusually  large  medallion  in  the  centre 
has  itself  a  wide  border  of  birds  in  red  and  blue,  perched  on  slender 
stems  connecting  floral  motifs  on  yellow  ground ;  and  a  field  of  floral 
and  vine  tracery  in  red,  bright  yellow  and  blue,  on  dark  blue  ground. 
The  corners  of  the  main  field  of  the  rug  show  flower  and  fruit  trees, 
with  birds  in  the  branches,  on  dark  green  ground.  The  rest  of  the 
main  field  is  covered  with  numerous  animals,  the  Shah  Abbas  motif, 
and  numerous  florals  in  orange,  dark  blue  and  other  colours,  on  a  red 
ground.  This  rug  is  a  magnificent  illustration  of  the  extraordinary 
success  with  which  the  Persians  were  able  to  use  not  only  brilliant 
colours,  but  many  brilliant  colours  in  close  contrast,  toning  and  blend- 
ing them  into  rich  but  gentle  harmonies. 

In  the  Altman  Collection  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum  are  three 
large  rugs  with  silk  pile  woven  in  Central  Persia,  probably  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Kashan,  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

208 


Plate  V— AN  EXTIIAOIIDINAUY  LARGE  KAHADAGH  RUG 

20!) 


Plate  VI— AUOKBU,  ANIMAL  HUG 
210 


PERSIAN  AND  INDIAN  RUGS 

In  each  square  inch  of  these  three  rugs  there  are  from  five  to  seven 
hundred  knots.  The  one  that  is  illustrated  on  Plate  VIII  has  a  field 
extraordinarily  rich  with  animal  and  floral  forms,  and  a  horder  of 
large  flowers  and  heautiful  birds  artfully  combined  into  running  dec- 
oration. The  outer  band  of  the  border  is  made  up  of  flowers  com- 
bined with  the  Chinese  cloud  band. 

On  Plate  IX  is  illustrated  the  textiu'e  of  a  sixteenth  century 
Persian  rug,  that  although  still  in  comparatively  good  condition,  has 
been  worn  down,  until  the  weft  shines  in  bright  cross  lines  through  the 
figures  of  the  Shah  Abbas  and  other  florals,  and  of  the  birds  and 
animals. 

CHISELLED  EFFECTS 

At  this  point  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  different  dyes  are  apt 
to  affect  the  wool  differently,  and  that  the  wool  dyed  in  some  colours 
wears  down  faster  than  wool  dyed  in  other  colours.  Consequently, 
in  a  large  proportion  of  ancient  rugs  the  parts  of  the  design  in  one 
colour  will  stand  out  high  above  the  parts  of  the  design  in  another 
colour,  so  that  a  relief,  or  chiselled  effect  is  produced. 

COMPARTMENT  RUGS 

Another  extraordinary  sixteenth  century  Persian  rug  acquired 
for  the  Metropolitan  Museum  from  the  Yerkes  Collection  is  the  one 
with  "compai-tment  fields"  illustrated  on  Plate  X.  The  price  paid 
for  this  rug  was  $19,600.  The  pile  is  of  wool,  with  600  knots  to  the 
square  inch,  while  the  weft  is  of  silk  and  the  warp  of  cotton  and  silk. 
The  size  is  16  feet  4  inches  by  11  feet  2  inches.  There  is  a  similar  rug 
in  the  Commercial  Museum  at  Lyons,  and  another  similar  one  is  illus- 
trated in  the  great  Vienna  Rug  Book.  The  nine  main  compartments 
are  large  rounded  octagons  picturing  the  traditional  fight  of  the 
Chinese  dragon  and  phoenix,  on  blue  ground.  Tangent  to  each  main 
compartment  are  eight  radiating  escutcheon  panels  alternating  red 
and  blue,  the  former  containing  Chinese  ducks,  the  latter  vine  tracery. 
Between  the  blue  escutcheon  and  alternating  with  the  large  octagons, 
are  smaller  octagons,  each  with  four  running  lions  on  blue  ground. 
The  background  of  the  main  field  of  the  rug  is  patterned  with  vine 
ornament,  florals  and  Chinese  cloud  bands,  in  blue,  orange  and  red. 
The  main  band  of  the  border  has  a  ground  of  dark  blue,  and  consists 
of  rounded  octagons  alternating  with  round-ended  rectangles,  the 

311 


I'lfite  VII— A  SIXTKKNTH  CKNTUUV   I'EKSIAN   HUG 
In  the  Metropolitan  Museum 


Plate  VIII— A  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  PERSIAN  SILK  RUG 
In  the  Metropolitan  Museum  , 

313 


PERSIAN  AND  INDIAN  RUGS 

octagons  richly  decorated  with  flowers,  and  hii-ds,  and  vine  tracery; 
the  rectangles  with  Chinese  cloud  bands  and  floral  ornaments. 

FAMOUS  ALTMAN  PRAYKll  KUGS 

From  a  literary  point  of  view,  perhaps  the  most  interissting  rug 
in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  is  the  famous  Prayer  Rug  (Plate  XI) 
in  the  Altman  Collection  which  shows  Arabic  and  Chinese  side  bj'^ 
side.  In  the  prayer  niche  of  this  rug  hangs  a  mosque  lajnp  amongst 
red,  yellow  and  pink  flowers,  outlined  in  dark  l)rown  on  green  ground. 
Below  are  graceful  flowing  trees  in  yellow  with  pink  blossoms,  and 
other  flowers  introduced  in  pink,  yellow  and  dark  red.  Filling  the 
parts  of  the  field  not  occupied  by  the  niche  are  vine  and  leaf  forms  in 
brown  and  in  white,  on  claret  red  ground.  The  rug  has  two  borders ; 
the  outer  one,  the  wider.  The  inner  border  consists  of  an  Arabic 
inscrijjtion  in  red  on  yellow,  supplemented  with  leaf  pattern  below. 
The  inscription  reads:  "May  the  blessing  of  God  rest  upon  us  all. 
There  is  no  God  but  Allah.  Mohammed  is  the  Prophet  of 'God.  Ali 
is  the  Saint  of  God.  God,  The  Exalted  says:  'Verily  God  and  His 
Angels  shower  their  blessings  upon  the  Prophet.  Oh,  ye  faithful, 
send  your  blessings  unto  Him  as  well  as  also  your  salutations  unto 
Him.'  "  The  outer  border  consists  of  four  rounded  octagons  pat- 
terned with  forms  that  suggest  archaic  Chinese  lettering;  and  five 
rectangles  with  roimded  ends  containing  quotations  in  Arabic  from 
the  Koran  in  black  on  grey;  and  four  other  rectangles  containing 
Chinese  cloud  bands,  florals  and  vine  traceries  in  red,  yellow  and  black 
on  orange  and  white  grounds.  This  rug  formerly  belonged  to  the 
Bardini  Collection  in  Florence,  is  five  feet  five  inches  by  three  feet 
three  inches,  and  was  illustrated  by  Doctor  F.  R.  Martin  in  his  splen- 
did book  entitled,  "Oriental  Carpets." 

SEHNA,  SEREBEND  AND  I-'EUECIIANS 

A  typical  Sehna  rug  is  that  illustrated  in  Plate  XII.  It  has  the 
Herati  motif,  in  both  border  and  field ;  pile  of  silky  wool  clipped  very 
short,  and  a  very  fine  texture.  Instead  of  the  Herati  design,  some 
Sehnas  have  the  pear  motif  or  a  central  diamond  or  medallion.  Whilst 
Sehnas  excel  other  modern  Oriental  rugs  in  fineness  of  weave,  the 
knots  are  tied  so  tight  that  the  edges  of  the  rug  are  likely  to  curl  and 
pucker.  Warp  and  weft  are  usually  of  cotton,  but  sometimes  of  silk. 
Sehnas  have  narrow  end  selvages,  finished  with  loose  fringe. 

213 


Plate  IX-POKTION  OF  A  SIXTKKNTH  CKNTURY  PERSIAN  RUG 

oliowing  "worn  down"  texture 


21* 


■■B^S^cSS 


•i>vri:' '-..•.o;  •> 


.4a  •-        I 


•^f^.  1^-   r>fe^-' 


Plate  X- 


-EARLY  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  PERSIAN  RUG 
Of  "compartment"  design 


Plate  XI— SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  PERSIAN  PRAYER  RUG 
With  Arabic  inscriptions.     In  the  Altman  Collection 


215 


Plate  XII— A  TYPICAL  SEHNA  lUG 
With  Herati  motif  in  border  and  field 


Plate  XIII— TYPICAL  SEREBEND   RUG 
With  "pear"  field  and  border  of  many  stri])cs 


216 


PERSIAN  AND  INDIAN  RUGS 

One  of  the  most  easily  recognised  Persian  rugs  is  the  Serebend. 
A  typical  example  is  illustrated  in  Plate  XIII.  The  field  is  filled  with 
horizontal  rows  of  small  pear  motifs,  alternating  in  direction.  The 
border  stripes  are  narrow  and  numerous.  Serebends  are  less  exquisite 
in  design  and  weave  than  Sehnas,  but  are  thicker,  firmer  and  much 
more  durable.  The  fields  of  Serebends  have  a  ground  of  dark  blue 
or  wine  red. 

Probably  nine-tenths  of  all  Fereghan  rugs  have  the  Herati  motif 
covering  the  field  in  one  form  or  another,  although  the  Guli  Hinnai 
motif  and  small  floral  diaper  designs  are  also  found.  The  Fereghan 
rug  illustrated  in  Plate  XIV  shows  the  Herati  motif  in  groups  of 
four,  connected  by  a  diamond-shaped  lattice  or  framework  of  vines  in 
between.  In  many  respects,  Fereghans  resemble  Sehnas;  they  come 
next  to  them  in  fineness  of  texture  and  shortness  of  pile. 

Even  easier  to  identity  than  Serebends  are  Hamadans,  so  called 
from  the  modern  name  of  the  Persian  city  that  was  anciently 
Ecbatana.  Nearly  all  of  them  have  an  outside  band  of  camel's-hair 
"in  the  natural,"  which  means  that  it  is  vmdyed  and  light  brown  or 
coffee  colour  in  tone.  Undyed  camel's-hair  is  also  often  used  in  con- 
nection with  coloured  wools  in  the  fields  of  Hamadan  rugs.  Char- 
acteristic of  most  of  them  is  the  two-tone  trellis  that  backgrounds  the 
pole  medallion,  as  in  the  example  on  Plate  XV,  where  only  part  of 
the  rug  is  shown,  because  of  its  length.  A  pole  medallion,  it  should 
be  explained  here,  is  a  medallion  with  extensions.  The  pile  of 
Hamadan  rugs  is  comparativeh'  thick,  and  the  weave  comparatively 
coarse. 

MOSUL 

Although  the  city  of  Mosul  is  not  in  Persia  but  in  Turkey — to  be 
exact,  on  the  Tigris  two  hundred  and  twenty  miles  northwest  of  Bag- 
dad, and  near  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  Nineveh,  capital  of  Assyria — 
Mosul  rugs  are  properly  classed  with  those  of  Persia.  The  rugs 
marketed  at  Mosid  by  nomadic  wea\'ers  from  the  north,  from  the 
east,  from  the  south,  are  the  products  of  many  different  races  and 
naturally  show  great  diversity  of  character.  Indeed,  the  only  char- 
acteristic common  to  all  of  them  is  the  nature  of  the  weave,  though 
they  are  prone  to  yellow  and  russet  hues  and  the  wool  is  soft  and 
lustrous.  Many  Mosul  rugs  show  Caucasian  motifs,  such  as  stars  and 
latch-hooks;  others  show  Kurdish  patterns,  with  but  little  change 

217 


Plate  XIV— SMALL  FEREGHAX  RUG 


Plate  XV— PART  OF  A  LONG  HAMADAX  RUG 

218 


Plate  XVI     ONE  OF  THK  MAW  TYPES  OF  MOSUL  RUG 


Plate  XVn— SUPERB  SARUK   RUG 
With  "tree  of  life"  design 


919 


Plate  XVIII— IXTRICATKLY  PATTERNED  ALL-SII.K  KASHAN  RUG 


Plate  XIX—TYPICAL  MODERN  KIRMAN  RUG 
330 


PERSIAX  AND  INDIAN  RUGS 

from  the  way  in  which  they  appear  in  Kurdistan  rugs.  Always  the 
Caucasian  motifs  are  rounded  and  softened  in  the  Persian  direction, 
whilst  usually  the  Persian  designs  are  coarsened  and  straightened  in 
the  Caucasian  direction.  A  large  proportion  of  the  Mosul  rugs  now 
on  the  market  have  a  cotton  warp.  The  Mosul  rug  illustrated  on 
Plate  XVI  shows  the  conflict  of  Caucasian  and  Persian  influences. 

Saruks  are  often  spoken  of  as  the  modern  Ispahans.  The  reason 
why  is  clear  from  the  nature  of  the  design  shown  on  Plate  XVII. 
Fortunately,  Saruks  have  an  exquisite  and  velvety  texture  quite 
worthy  of  the  designs  that  they  interpret.  They  are  woven  in  the 
same  part  of  Persia  as  Sehnas  and  Fereghans  and,  like  the  Sehnas, 
sometimes  curl  on  account  of  the  tiglitness  of  the  weave. 

Kashan  is  the  centre  of  the  Persian  silk  industry.  A  fine  example 
of  the  silk  rugs  produced  there  is  the  one  shown  on  Plate  XVIII. 

KIRMAN  AND  TABRIZ 

The  wool  of  southern  Persia  is  particularly  soft  and  fine.  Conse- 
quently one  should  not  be  surprised  at  the  softness  of  the  texture  of 
Kirman  rugs.  The  example  illustrated  on  Plate  XIX  is  a  typical 
modern  Kirman  with  medallion  centre,  and  the  greyish  tinge  that  is 
characteristic  of  modern  Kirmans.  Especially  in  the  blues  and  in  the 
greens  is  this  greyness  attractive,  and  ahnost  lends  iridescent  effects 
to  the  surface.  The  Kirman  illustrated  on  Plate  XX  is  an  antique 
woven  over  a  century  ago.  The  pile  has  been  worn  short  but  the 
colours,  especially  the  exquisite  roses,  are  as  fresh  as  ever.  This  rug 
is  a  wonderful  creation,  thickly  patterned  with  floral  forms  that  leave 
not  a  fraction  of  an  inch  of  tlie  plain  ground  which  is  so  much  afi'ected 
by  those  modern  decorators  who  lack  colour  sense. 

The  small  rug  illustrated  on  Plate  XXI  is  a  typical  Tabriz 
(named  from  the  city  of  Tabriz,  the  ancient  Tauris,  in  extreme  north- 
western Persia),  in  texture  but  not  in  pattern.  The  grounds  of 
Tabriz  rugs  are  apt  to  be  plain,  between  the  corners  and  the  centre 
medallion  of  the  main  field.  Some  twenty  years  ago  the  manufacture 
of  Oriental  rugs  was  begun  at  Tabriz  with  the  idea  of  producing  there 
the  equal  of  Kirman  rugs,  but  the  hardness  of  the  wool,  and  the  stiff- 
ness of  the  designs  supplied  to  the  weavers  by  European  designers, 
or  designers  under  Eiu'opean  control,  resulted  unsatisfactorily.  Rugs 
were  produced  of  exceedingly  fine  texture  that  curled  and  even  broke. 
The  prices  were  necessarily  high  because  of  the  fineness  of  the  weave 

221 


Plate  XX— ANCIKNT  "FLOWKH  GARDEN"  KIRMAN  RUG 


Plate  XXI— SMALL  TABRIZ  RUG 


PERSIAN  AND  INDIAN  RUGS 

and  the  expense  of  the  management,  but  the  American  public  pre- 
ferred, and  rightly,  the  coarser  and  softer  texture  and  less  formalised 
designs  of  Gorevan  and  Scrape  rugs  from  the  Herez  district. 

KHOKASSAN 

Khorassans  are  woven  in  the  Province  of  Khorassan  that  occu- 
pies the  northeastern  part  of  Persia,  and  once  included  also  the 
western  jjart  of  Afghanistan  in  which  is  situated  Herat,  now  the 
capital  of  Afghanistan.  The  wool  of  Khorassan,  like  the  wool  of 
Kirman,  is  soft  and  silky,  and  Khorassan  rugs,  like  Kirman  rugs, 
have  a  greyish  iridescence  of  surface  that  is  most  pleasing,  but  the 
background  of  the  field  is  in  dark  tones,  instead  of  light  tones — 
usually  in  purplish  blues  or  blue-blacks.  Especially  interesting  from 
the  point  of  view  of  design  is  the  Khorassan  rug  illustrated  on  Plate 
XXII,  with  its  flower-filled  vases  that  have  been- combined  into  an 
all-over  pattern,  so  delightfully  as  to  secure  all  the  virtues  of  rtp€kt, 
without  any  of  its  weaknesses. 

The  rug  illustrated  on  Plate  XXIII  is  full  of  Caucasian  motifs, 
and  makes  one  wonder  how  saw-toothed  and  straight-line  effects  of 
this  type  ever  wandered  from  the  western  shore  of  the  Caspian  Sea 
down  into  southern  Persia.  For  the  rug  before  us  was  woven  not  in 
the  Caucasus,  but  at  Shiraz.  The  story  goes  that  the  Shiraz  weavers 
actuallj'  are  Caucasians,  or  rather  descendants  of  Caucasians,  having 
been  brought  here  from  their  native  land  by  a  victorious  Shall  of 
Persia.  Characteristic  of  Shiraz  rugs  are  not  only  their  Caucasian 
rectilinear  motifs,  sometimes  modified  by  Persian  influence,  but  also 
the  edges  overcast  in  bright  contrasting  colours,  and  the  wide  end 
selvages  embroidered  in  bright  colours.  Of  course,  the  warp  is  of 
wool,  and  the  end  fringes  interesting. 

INDIAN  RUGS 

The  weaving  of  Oriental  rugs  in  India  became  important  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  Persian  weavers  were 
imported  and  Shah  Akbar,  following  the  example  of  Persian  princes, 
set  up  looms  in  his  palace.  A  number  of  other  Indian  dignitaries 
imitated  his  example,  and  rugs  of  the  highest  type  were  woven,  in 
designs  that  were  based  on  Persian  designs,  but  were  apt  to  be  much 
more  naturalistic,  as  is  illustrated  by  the  splendid  examples  in  the 
Altman  Collection  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum.     In  the  last  half  of 

223 


Plate  XXII— KHORASSAN  RUG  WITH  "VASE"  DESIGN 


Plate  XXIII— QUAINT  AND  CURIOUS  SHIRAZ  RUG 
224 


Plate  XXIV— THE  GREAT  ARDKBII,  RUG  IX  THE  SOUTH  KEXSIXGTON  MUSEUM 

17  feet  0  inches  by  37  feet  10  inches.     Woven  at  Kashan  in  Persia  in  1510, 

and  signed  witl\  place  and  date 


Plate  XX\— PERSIAX  EARLY  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  RUG 

Woollen  pile  hroch^  with  {{old  and  silver  on  silk  web.     Collection  of 

Prince  Alexis  Lobanof-Rostowskv 


225 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

the  nineteenth  century,  however,  the  industrial  development  of  India 
under  English  rule,  and  especially  the  introduction  of  rug  weaving 
into  the  jails,  substituted  modern  factory  for  primitive  methods,  and 
twenty-five  years  after  the  International  Exhibition  of  1851  in 
London,  where  Indian  rugs  of  extraordinary  merit  had  been  exhibited, 
the  rugs  in  India  had  become  a  factory  product.  Western  designs 
had  been  introduced,  bad  dyes  were  common,  and  prison-made  fabrics 
flooded  the  English  market.  It  is  only  fair  to  add  that  during  the 
last  few  years  the  quality  of  India  rugs  has  greatly  improved,  and 
reproductions  not  only  of  Persian  but  also  of  Chinese  rugs,  are  made 
that  compare  favourably  with  the  originals. 

Credit  for  illustrations:     Plates  III,  VI  to  XI,  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art;  Plate  V, 
Howard  Greenley;  Plates  XII  to  XXIII,  A.  U.  Dilley. 


CHAPTER  XII 

TAPESTRIES  AND  THEIR  IMITATIONS 

Of  all  textures,  tapestry  is  the  most  durable.  The  complete 
interlocking  of  warp  and  weft  produces  a  web  that  will  not  ravel, 
and  that  violence  and  dust  and  moths  destroy  with  difficulty.  Whilst 
no  large  picture  tapestries  survive  to  us  from  Greek  and  Roman 
times,  we  have  a  wealth  of  them  from  the  fifteenth  and  svicceeding 
centuries,  and  some  from  the  fourteenth.  Of  small  decorative  and 
primitive  tapestries,  without  elaborate  picture  effects,  and  without 
a  highly  developed  system  of  hatchings  (huchures),  we  have  many 
ancient  Peruvian  and  Coptic,  and  some  ancient  Greek  and  Egyptian 
and  Chinese  examples,  the  last  in  silk. 

,f  Tapestry  is  a  broad  word.  In  its  narrowest  and  most  exclusive 
sense,  it  means  woven  pictures  with  horizontal  ribs  and  vertical  hatch- 
ings, of  the  type  develojjed  in  the  Netherlands  and  northern  France 
during  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  In  its 
broadest  sense  it  includes  all  coverings  for  floors,  walls  and  furniture 
— ^ven  pile  rugs,  and  wall  paper,  and  leathers— and  in  this  sense  might 
have  been  correctly  used  as  the  title  of  this  volume. 

Its  meaning  varies  according  to  the  place  where  you  find  it.  It 
ranges  in  New  York  from  ten  thousand  dollars  a  yard  on  Fifth 
Avenue,  to  ten  cents  a  roll  on  Sixth  Avenue.  A  Van  Orley  "Last 
Supper,"  or  a  Beauvais-Boucher  like  the  one  illustrated  in  colour  as 
the  frontispiece  of  my  book  on  Taiiestries,  is  nmch  better  value  at 
the  former  price  than  bad  wall  paper  badly  printed  with  a  bad  design 
is  at  the  latter  price. 

IMITATION  TAPESTRIES 

If  you  ask  for  a  tapestry  in  a  wall  paper  shop,  the  salesman  will 
show  you  a  paper  called  tapestry  or  verdure,  because  modelled  after 
jacquard  verdure  tapestries.    The  jacquards  themselves  you  can  see 

227 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

in  the  upholstery  section  of  any  large  department  store.  (For  illus- 
trations of  their  texture,  see  Plate  F  3,  4  of  Chapter  IV.)  These 
are  the  goods  ordinarily  called  tapestries  in  the  merchandise  uphol- 
stery trade.  The  all-cotton  ones  are  very  inexpensive,  even  those 
with  landscape  and  figures  in  addition  to  verdure,  like  the  one  illus- 
trated on  Plate  I,  which  is  twenty-seven  inches  high.  In  greater 
height,  and  finished  with  an  applique  border  or  woven  gilt  frame,  come 
larger  and  more  elaborate  copies  of  real  tapestries  and  paintings, 
particularly  those  of  peasant  scenes  designed  by  the  famous  seven- 
teenth century  painter,  Teniers.  Sometimes  these  jacquard  tapestry 
panels  are  sold  as  real  tapestries  at  a  price  as  ridiculously  low  for 
what  they  are  implied  to  be,  as  it  is  high  for  what  they  are.  I  have 
several  times  been  asked  to  pass  on  such  tapestries,  once  by  a  pur- 
chasing agent  whose  client  was  willing  to  part  with  ten  thousand 
dollars  on  account  of  the  Ch.  Le  Brun  Pinxit  woven  into  the  fabric. 
Other  imitation  tapestries  are  those  block-printed  by  hand,  like 
"hand-blocked"  chintzes  and  wall  papers,  but  on  a  coarse  horizontal 
rep  in  simulation  of  real  tapestry  texture.  The  general  effect  is  nmch 
more  tapestry-like  than  that  of  the  jacquards,  all  but  the  simplest  of 
which  resemble  petit  point  needlework,  having  a  square  point  with 
lines  running  both  ways  instead  of  strongly  marked  ribs.  The 
printed  tapestries  come  in  sets  of  sixty-inch  widths  that  hang  vertically 
like  wall  paper,  and  are  so  planned  that  widths  can  be  omitted  or 
repeated  to  accord  with  the  wall  space  without  spoiling  the  continuity 
or  apparent  completeness  of  the  picture.  The  effect  of  these  printed 
tapestries  on  a  large  scale,  seen  at  a  little  distance,  is  far  more  agree- 
able than  that  of  the  jacquard  tapestry  panels  described  above.  They 
also  are  very  inexpensive.  One  set  of  the  prints  is  based  on  the 
ancient  Gothic  fifteenth  century  Trojan  War  series  of  tapestries; 
another  shows  the  Foundation  of  Rome. 

THE  WEATE  OF  REAL  TAPESTRIES 

On  the  simplest  form  of  primitive  tapestry  loom,  the  weaver's 
left  hand  pulls  the  leashes  (lisses)  that  form  the  new  shed  of  the 
warp,  while  his  right  hand  passes  the  bobbin  that  carries  the  weft, 
and  passes  it  only  as  far  as  the  colour  that  it  carries  is  to  show  on 
the  face  of  the  finished  cloth.  On  the  way  out  (to  the  left)  the  weft 
covers  the  even  warps;  on  the  way  back,  the  odd  warps,  thus  form- 
ing a  complete  pass.     The  warp  threads  being  hard-spun  and  com- 

228 


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I 


TAPESTRIES  AND  THEIR  IMITATIONS 

paratively  coarse,  and  the  weft  threads  fine  and  soft,  the  latter  when 
pressed  home  with  the  point  of  the  bobbin  or  with  the  comb,  cover 
and  completely  hide  the  warp  threads  that  make  their  presence  mani- 
fest as  ribs.  In  other  words  real  tapestries  are  ribbed  or  rep  fabrics 
with  surface  consisting  entirely  of  weft  threads.  They  are  also  eocactly 
alike  on  both  sides  (except  for  the  loose  irregular  loops  of  thread  on 
the  back).    In  this  they  are  unique. 

Between  the  real  tapestry  loom  as  still  used  at  the  Gobelins  and 
Beauvais,  Aubusson  and  Merton,  New  York,  Rome,  Madrid,  Berlin 
and  elsewhere,  and  the  ordinary  type  of  hand  loom,  the  difference  is 
.fundamental.  In  the  latter  the  bobbin  is  not  passed  with  the  hand, 
but  thrown  or  knocked  the  full  width  of  the  warp  in  a  shuttle.  Real 
tapestry  is  a  bobbin  fabric;  the  woven  imitations  are  shuttle  fabrics. 

SHUTTLE  AND  NEEDLE  TAPESTRIES 

Of  these  shuttle  imitations,  the  cleverest  and  best  are  like  the 
one  illustrated  in  Plate  V.  They  are  made  on  a  special  kind  of  hand 
loom,  with  a  double  warp.  Each  warp  consists  of  two  threads,  the 
one  coarse  and  the  other  fine,  which  are  sometimes  treated  as  one 
in  the  process  of  weaving,  and  sometimes  separately.  In  the  latter 
ease  a  double  cloth  is  formed  and  the  surface  shows  a  delightful 
irregularity  and  a  texture  resembling,  or  rather  suggesting  the  qual- 
ities of,  ancient  Gothic  pieces  that  have  been  softened  by  the  rough- 
ness of  the  hand  of  Father  Time.  Shuttle  tapestries  of  the  double- 
warp  type  can  be  made  only  in  comparatively  shnple  verdure  and 
landscape  designs,  and  in  no  way  compete  with  real-tapestry  picture 
panels.  But  they  are  decorativelj^  superior  to  new  real-tapestry 
verdures  of  the  same  grade. 

Another  imitation  of  real  tapestry  is  needlework  tapestry,  so 
nmch  used  to  upholster  furniture  in  the  English  styles  of  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries.  It  is  in  cross  stitch,  and  does  not 
have  strongly  marked  ribs  running  in  one  direction,  but  a  square 
point  and  lines  running  in  both  directions.  When  part  of  the  surface 
is  in  fine  stitch  (petit  point),  such  tapestries  are  properly  called  petit 
points  (Plates  VIII  b,  XIV,  XVIII,  XIX,  XXIII  in  Chapter  VI) . 

PAINTED  TAPESTRIES 

Still  another  kind  of  imitation  tapestry  is  made  by  painting  on    ( 
canvas,  usually  ribbed  to  give  the  suggestion  of  tapestry  texture. 

231 


Plate  III— ANCIENT  PERUVIAN  TAPESTRIES  AND  TAPESTHY  FIGURED  FABRICS 
In  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York 


TAPESTRIES  AND  THEIR  IMITATIONS 

These  painted  imitations  range  from  half-size  copies  of  the  famous 
Lady  with  the  Unicorn  set  of  Late  Gothic  tapestries  at  the  Cluny 
Museum  in  Paris,  to  the  detestable  "Gobelin  panels,"  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  which  brought  prosperity  for  a  number  of  years  to  a  New 
York  shop  now  extinct,  whose  proprietor  used  to  repeat  with  great 
gusto  a  certain  quotation  from  P.  T.  Barnum  about  humbugging  the 
public.  It  is  a  favorite  diversion  with  the  editors  of  Sunday  news- 
papers to  print  long  stories  about  the  success  of  some  young  lady  in 
making  with  the  brush,  rejjroductions  of  ancient  Gobelin  and  Flemish 
tajjcstries  that  "cannot  be  told  from  the  original,  even  by  an  expert." 
In  a  carpet  and  rug  store,  tapestry  is  an  imitation  of  brussels, 
made  by  printing  the  warp  before  weaving;  or  the  imitation  of  that 
imitation,  made  by  printing  after  weaving  (Plate  VII  in  Chap- 
ter VIII). 

AUBUSSOX  TAPESTRIES 

For  over  a  century  the  world  centre  of  commercial  real-tapestry 
weaving,  that  is  of  tapestry  weaving  for  the  trade  and  the  open  mar- 
ket, has  been  the  little  mountain  town  of  Aubusson  in  France,  two 
hundred  miles  south  of  Paris  (Plate  IV).  At  the  Paris  Exposition 
of  1900,  the  exhibits  of  three  Aubusson  tapestry  manufacturers  were 
of  such  excellence  as  to  be  awarded  grand  prizes — the  same  award 
as  given  to  the  government  works  at  the  Gobelins  and  at  Beauvais, 
the  product  of  which  is  reserved  for  government  buildings.  Of  the 
Aubusson  reproductions  of  the  Chateau  de  Blois  and  the  Chateau  de 
St.  Germain  from  the  Louis  XIV  series  of  Royal  Residences,  after 
Lebrun;  of  the  panels  Venus  and  Jupiter  from  Claude  Audran's 
Portieres  of  the  Gods;  and  of  one  of  the  Hunts  of  Louis  XV,  after 
Oudry,  the  jury  said:  "They  are  so  like  the  originals  as  to  be  mis- 
taken for  them." 

According  to  local  tradition,  the  tapestry  industry  was  estab- 
lished at  Aubusson  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  732,  by  stragglers  from 
the  Saracen  army  that  Charlemagne's  grandfather,  Charles  Martel, 
defeated  near  Tours,  thus  saving  Europe  from  Mohammedanism  and 
for  Christianity.  In  1664  the  tapestry  makers  and  merchants  of 
Aubusson  spoke  of  the  industry  as  "established  from  time  immemorial, 
no  person  knowing  the  institution  of  it."  There  is,  however,  little 
probability  that  picture  tai)estry  weaving  at  Aubusson  antedated  the 
.  fourteenth  century  development  of  the  art  in  Flanders,  or  that  any 

233 


Plate  IV— MODKRN"  AllU'SSON   \  llliDl  lil.  TAI'K.SIUV  WITH   LANDSCAPE  AND  BIRDS 


Plate  V— VKRDURE  "DOUBLE  WARP"  TMITATION 

TAPESTRY  WITH  BORDER 

Woven  on  a  hand  loom 


2Si 


TAPESTRIES  AND  THEIR  IMITATIONS 

tapestries  of  great  importance  were  made  in  Aubusson  and  the  neigh- 
ing town  of  Felletin  before  the  eigliteenth  century. 

In  1664,  according  to  a  report  made  to  Colbert,  the  manufacture 
of  tapestries  at  Aubusson  appeared  to  be  in  a  bad  way.  The  number 
of  weavers  had  decreased,  there  was  a  hick  of  good  cartoons,  the  wool 
was  coarse  and  the  dyes  were  bad.  So  it  was  ordered  that  "a  good 
painter  chosen  by  the  Sieur  Colbert,  should  be  maintained  at  the 
expense  of  the  King  to  make  designs  for  the  tapestries  manufactured 
in  the  said  town;  and  there  should  also  be  established  in  it  a  master 
dyer  to  colour  the  goods  employed  in  said  manufactory."  But  the 
order  never  appears  to  have  been  executed,  and  a  few  years  later  in 
1685,  on  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  two  hundred  of  the 
best  weavers  of  Aubusson  had  to  leave  France  because  they  were 
Protestants.  Not  until  1731  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XV  was  a  serious 
attempt  made  to  revive  the  industry.  Then  a  painter  and  a  dyer  were 
actually  sent,  the  painter  being  Jean  Joseph  Dumons,  who  had 
acquired  fame  at  Beauvais  during  the  Regence  as  one  of  the  designers 
of  a  Chinese  set  of  tapestries  in  six  pieces,  and  who  later  cartooned 
Boucher's  Chinese  set.  More  important  even  than  the  painter  and 
splendidly  supplementing  his  work,  were  the  designs  and  cartoons 
sent  from  Beauvais  to  Aubusson  during  the  next  twenty  years.  From 
these  were  woven,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  Aubussori  tapestries  of 
the  splendid  type  illustrated  in  Plates  VI,  VII,  VIII,  loose  in 
texture  and  with  luminous  grounds,  possessing  an  excellence  peculiar 
to  themselves,  but  none  the  less  admirable  because  unlike  the  product 
of  Gobelin,  Beauvais  and  Flemish  looms.  The  Aubusson  makers  had 
been  authorised  in  1665  to  use  the  title  "Royal  Manufactory,"  and 
an  ordinance  of  1732  provided  that  their  tapestries  should  be  distin- 
guished by  weaving  the  name  of  the  town  and  the  name  or  initials  of 
the  weaver  into  the  border.  Consequently  we  need  not  be  surprised 
to  find  many  eighteenth  century  Aubusson  tapestries  signed  in  the 
bottom  selvage  in  the  same  manner,  as  the  two  Chinese  tapestries  after 
Boucher  in  the  Le  Roy  collection:  M.  R.  D'AUBUSSON,  PICON 
(Royal  Manufactory  of  Aubusson,  Picon).  Nor  need  we  be  sur- 
prised at  all  to  often  find  the  signature  wanting,  as  the  bottom  selvage 
of  a  tapestry  is  the  part  of  the  textile  that  is  most  apt  to  wear  out  or 
disappear  first. 

The  Aubusson  tapestry  illustrated  in  Plate  VII,  entitled  the 
Strife  of  Agamemnon  and  Achilles,  bears  the  signature  of  Babouneix. 

235 


TAPESTRIES  AND  THEIR  IMITATIONS 

It  is  one  of  a  set  of  five  tapestries,  complete  with  tapestry  rug  and 
furniture  coA^erings,  made  in  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century 
to  decorate  the  room  in  Greece  where  they  hung  for  over  a  century 
until  recently  brought  to  New  York.  On  account  of  the  draperies  in 
the  style  of  Louis  XVI  that  frame  the  top  and  sides  of  the  different 
pieces,  the  set  is  commonly  called  the  "Greek  drapery"  set.  Two 
other  tapestries  of  this  set,  the  Reception  of  Paris  by  Helen,  and  the 
Death  of  Phaeton,  were  exhibited  at  the  Buffalo  Tapestry  Exhibition, 
and  illustrated  on  page  2.53  of  the  February  191.5  number  of  Good 
Furniture  MAGAijixE.  The  composition  of  all  the  panels  is  excellent, 
particularly  of  the  Agamenmon  and  Achilles,  in  which  the  priest  on 
the  left  of  the  altar  exhorts  the  two  disputants  to  make  up  their 
quarrel.  That  the  altar  is  that  of  Jupiter  is  shown  by  his  image  behind, 
and  by  his  eagle  with  thunderbolts  in  front. 

The  Birth  of  Bacchus,  illustrated  in  Plate  VI,  is  not  surpassed 
by  any  Aubusson  tapestry  that  I  have  ever  seen.  It  has  the  character- 
istic Aubusson  texture  of  the  period,  and  surpasses  contemporary 
Beauvais  and  Brussels  tapestries  of  finer  point  and  more  delicate 
effect.  Like  many  eighteenth  centiu-y  tapestries  it  was  woven  with- 
out a  border,  probably  to  be  panelled  in  the  wall  with  wooden  mould- 
ing around. 

The  Transformation  of  Jupiter,  illustrated  in  Plate  VIII,  shows 
the  Royal  eagle  with  thunderbolts  in  the  upper  left  corner,  whilst  the 
Celestial  King  himself  occupies  the  foreground  in  the  form  of  a  beau- 
tiful white  bull,  into  which,  it  will  be  remembered,  he  transformed 
himself  for  the  purpose  of  beguiling  the  maiden  Europa,  with  whom 
upon  his  back  he  swam  across  the  Hellespont,  now  called  the 
Dardanelles,  where  the  battleships  of  the  Allies  tried  to  destroy  the 
Turkish  forts  on  the  way  to  Constantinople,  and  which  Lord  Bj'^ron, 
in  emulation  of  Jupiter,  and  of  Leander,  the  story  of  whose  love  for 
Hero  is  pictured  in  a  set  of  Mortlake  tapestries  in  the  Royal  Swedish 
collection,  swam  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
Transformation  of  Jupiter  is  one  of  eight  tapestries  designed  for 
Beauvais  (see  Chapter  XV)  by  Jean  Baptiste  Oudry,  the  famous  art 
director  of  Beauvais  and  later  of  the  Gobelins,  to  whose  efficiency  was 
due  the  extraordinary  prosperity  of  the  Beauvais  works  in  the  second 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  consequently  of  the  Aubusson 
works  that  copied  Beauvais  models.  The  largest  of  the  five  of  the 
set  now  in  America  pictures  the  Palace  of  Circe,  and  all  illustrate 

2.S7 


Plate  VII — "The  Strife  of  Agamemnon  and   Achilles" 


Plate  VIII — "The  Transformation  of  Jupiter" 
AUBUSSON  TAPESTRIES  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 


238 


TAPESTRIES  AND  THEIR  IMITATIONS 

transformations  of  men  into  beasts,  from  Ovid's  Metamorphoses.  The 
designs  are  vivid  with  h'fe  and  executed  with  the  greatest  skill. 

WII.IJAM  MORRIS  AXl)  BURNE-JOXES 

Still  active  at  Merton,  a  village  near  London,  in  England,  are 
the  tapestry  works  established  in  1S81  by  ^V''illianl  Morris.  Only 
recently  was  completed  the  Arming  of  the  King,  a  large  historical 
tapestry  adapted  from  Bernard  Partridge's  painting,  but  started  long 
before  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  with  Germany.  The  Merton 
tapestry,  illustrated  in  Plate  IX,  Two  Angels  with  Harps,  is  one  of 
a  pair  designed  and  made  for  Eton  College  Chapel.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  in  the  top  selvage  the  signatm-e  of  the  superintendent,  J.  H. 
Dearie,  and  of  the  three  weavers,  W.  Taylor,  R.  Ellis,  J.  Martin, 
who  express  the  pious  wish:  Nobis  nostrisque  omnibus  propitietur 
(Jens  (God  have  mercy  upon  us  and  all  of  ours). 

The  significance  of  the  Merton  tapestry  works  in  the  artistic 
development  of  tapestry,  or  rather  in  the  revival  of  tapestry,  has  been 
nuich  greater  than  would  be  expected  from  the  size  of  the  plant.  This 
was  due  partly  to  the  genius  of  liurne-Jones  who  designed  the  per- 
sonages for  most  of  the  important  tapestries,  and  of  Morris  who 
designed  the  decorative  backgrounds  and  borders,  and  put  in  the  colour, 
and  superintended  the  execution  on  the  loom,  after  having  trained 
first  liimself  and  then  his  apprentices.  All  other  tapestry  revivals 
imported  workmen  from  the  centre  of  tapestry  production:  The 
Gobelins  and  JVIortlake  from  Flanders  in  the  seventeenth  century; 
Madrid,  Antwerp  and  Petrograd  from  Beauvais  in  the  eighteenth 
century;  Windsor  and  Williamsbridge  from  Aubusson  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  But  Morris  did  it  with  his  own  hands.  He  had  a 
loom  set  up  in  his  bedroom  at  Kelmscott  House  in  Hammersmith,  and 
in  the  early  mornings  of  four  months  of  the  year  1879;  spent  no  less 
than  old  hours  at  it.  The  method  he  studied  out  from  an  old  French 
official  handbook  of  pre-Revolutionary  days.  Perhaps  the  best  evi- 
dence of  the  successful  co-operation  of  Morris  and  Burne-Jones  is  that 
the  Holy  Grail  set  of  four  was  awarded  a  Grand  Prize  at  the  French 
Exposition  of  1900,  the  only  non-French  tapestries  ever  so  honoured. 

AMERICAN  TAPESTRIES 

In  1893  the  industry  was  established  in  America  by  the  late 
William  Baumgarten,  and  still  flourishes  at  the  splendidly  equipped 

239 


■Si 

< 


o 
o 


o 

s 
I 


Plate  XI— TAPESTHY  DKSIGNKD  BY  AI.HEUT  HEUTER 
AND  WOVEN  IN  AMERICA 


241 


Plate  XII— JACQUARD  TAPESTRIES  WOVEN  IN  AMERICA 


Plate  XIII— TAPESTRY  SCREEN  PANELS  WOVEN  IN  NEW  YORK 

343 


Plate  XIV— FOUR  EIGHTEENTH  CEXTLllY  SPANISH  TAPESTRIES 
The  upper  two  after  Goya,  the  lower  two  in  the  style  of  Teniers 

244 


n 


TAPESTRIES  AND  THEIR  IMITATIONS 

plant  in  AVillianishridge  in  New  York  City,  under  the  management 
of  M.  Foussadier,  wlio  had  heen  employed  at  the  Royal  Windsor 
Tapestry  Works  in  England,  that  were  shut  down  in  1887  after 
existing  from  1876  with  the  aid  of  royal  patronage.  The  first  piece 
of  tapestry  woven  in  America  (excluding  the  primitive  ones  made  by 
Indians,  Mexicans  and  Peruvians)  was  a  chair  seat,  the  exhibition  of 
which  at  the  Buffalo  Tapestry  Pjxhibition  excited  great  interest. 
There  are  Williamsbridge  tapestries  in  many  American  residences, 
and  of  one  New  York  palace  they  are  the  most  iiinjortant  part  of  the 
furnishing,  being  used  on  floors,  walls  apd  furniture. 

During  the  past  seven  years  other  tapestry  plants  that  are  still 
in  operation  have  been  established  in  New  York  City  by  Albert 
Herter,  and  at  Edgewater,  N.  J.,  by  L.  Kleiser.  Especially  inter- 
esting is  the  set  picturing  the  Story  of  New  York,  woven  by  the 
Herter  looms  for  the  McAlpin  Hotel,  and  hanging  on  the  walls  of  the 
mezzanine  corridors  over  the  office.  But  perhaps  the  best  idea  com- 
mercially is  that  of  the  maker  whose  tapestry  reproductions  of  Old 
English  needlework  are  found  useful  and  ajjpropriate  for  the  uphol-- 
stery  of  chairs  and  sofas.  Technically  the  most  perfect  tapestries 
woven  in  America  are  the  two  lioucher  portieres  that  received  a  grand 
prize  at  the  St.  Louis  Exposition.  One  of  them  is  illustrated  on 
Plate  X.  But  this  is  of  course  in  Gobelin  textiu'e  of  the  last  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the  greatest  tapestries  of  the  future, 
as  of  the  past,  will  be  those  woven  in  the  texture  of  the  first  quarter 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  which  William  Morris  tried,  with  partial 
success,  to  imitate.  It  is  a  texture  that  can  be  perfectly  reproduced 
today  by  those  who  understand  it. 

BERLIN,  ROME,   MADRID,   PETRGGRAD 

The  output  of  the  tapestry  looms  in  ojjeration  in  Berlin,  Rome 
and  Madrid  is  unimportant  as  regards  both  quantity  and  quality, 
although  the  San  Michele  plant  at  Rome  is  a  survival  of  the  one 
established  in  1710  by  Pope  Clement  XI,  and  the  Santa  Barbara 
plant  at  Madrid  of  the  one  established  in  1720  by  Jacques  Vander- 
goten  under  the  protection  of  King  Philip  V.  The  first  art  director 
of  San  Michele  was  Andrea  Procaccini,  who  afterwards  went  to  Spain 
where  he  designed  for  the'  Santa  Barbara  looms  a  set  picturing  the 
Story  of  Don  Quixote,  I'ecently  lent  by  the  King  of  Spain  for  exhi- 
bition at  the  Hispanic  Museum  in  New  York  City    (Plate  XV). 

245 


Plate  XV— "DON  QUIXOTK  KNIGHTKD" 

Spanish  tapestry  designetl  by  Procaocini  and  woven  by  Vandergoten's  sons 


246 


TAPESTRIES  AND  THEIR  IMITATIONS 

The  Russian  Imperial  Tapestry  works,  established  at  Petro- 
grad  by  Peter  the  Great  in  171(),  were  diseontinued  in  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  The  primitive  and  peasant  tapestries,  and 
developments  from  them,  woven  in  the  Scandinavian  countries,  and 
elsewhere  by  indi\i(lual  workers,  have  little  merit.  Most  of  these  are 
flat  without  ribs,  and  many  have  vertical  warps.  None  of  them  show 
any  comprehension  of  the  value  of  hatchings,  and  of  what  line  struc- 
ture means  in  tapestry  composition  and  tapestry  execution. 

Fortunately  we  Americans  are  not  ashamed  to  be  inspired  by  the 
greatness  of  past  centuries,  and  are  quite  as  willing  to  learn  from 
other  peoples'  ancestors  as  from  our  own.  I  believe  the  time  has  come 
for  a  rebirth  of  tapestry  and  the  other  decorative  arts  in  America, 
on  a  scale  equal  to  that  of  the  Renaissance,  provided  only  that  we 
shun  passionately  the  errors  due  to  ignorance  and  inexperience. 

Credit  for  illustrations:  Plate  II,  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art;  Plate  III,  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History;  Plates  IV,  V,  J.  H.  Tliorp  &  Co.;  Plates  VI  to  VI II,  P.  W. 
French  &  Co.;  Plate  IX,  Morris  &  Co.;  Plate  XI,  the  Hcrtcr  Looms;  Plate  X,  Wni.  Hamii- 
pirten  &  Co.;  Plate  XIII,  Pottier  &  Stymus. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

GOTHIC  TAPESTRIES 

Nearly  all  of  the  important  tapestries  that  survive  were  woven 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  the  sixteenth  century,  the  seventeenth  century 
or  the  eighteenth  century.  They  are  either  Gothic  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  Renaissance  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Baroque  of  the  seven- 
teenth, Rococo  or  Classic  of  the  eighteenth.  However,  the  periods 
overlapped  to  some  extent,  and  we  find  Gothic  tapestries  still  being 
woven  during  the  first  few  years  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Renaissance 
tapestries  during  the  first  few  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
Baroque  tapestries  during  the  first  few  years  of  the  eighteenth. 

Nearly  all  of  the  Gothic  tapestries  that  survive  were  woven  in 
the  fifteenth  century  or  the  first  few  years  of  the  sixteenth.  From 
the  fourteenth  century  we  have  but  one  set  of  tapestries,  the  famous 
Apocalypse  set  that  is  preserved  in  the  Cathedral  at  Angers,  France. 
Besides  this  set  there  are  only  a  few  scattered  and  isolated  pieces, 
mostly  crude  and  small  in  size.  This  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  large 
and  magnificent  tapestries  were  undoubtedly  woven  during  the  four- 
teenth century. 

Our  study  of  Gothic  tapestries,  then,  will  confine  itself  almost 
exclusively  to  tapestries  woven  in  the  fifteenth  century  or  the  first 
few  years  of  the  sixteenth.  It  will  also  confine  itself  almost  exclu- 
sively to  tapestries  woven  within  two  hundred  miles  of  Arras  and 
Brussels,  the  first  of  which  cities  was  the  centre  of  tapestry  weaving 
during  the  fourteenth  and  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  centuries ;  the 
second  of  which  cities  became  the  centre  of  tapestry  weaving  after 
Arras  was  ruined  in  1477. 

TEXTURE  or  GOTHIC  TAPESTRIES 

Gothic  tapestries,  more  than  any  others,  illustrate  the  full  and 
complete  virtues  of  tapestry  texture.     Gothic  tapestries,  more  than 

248 


Plate   I— DAVID   AND    HATHSHKHA   T  \I>KSTKY 
GOTHIC   "STORY  OF  DAVID."   IN   THK 


.     TAHT  OF  THK   FAMOIS  LATE 
CT.UXY   MLSELM,   PARKS 


349 


Plate  H— "TITUS,"  PAKT  OF  A  KIFTEEXTII  CFXTUHY  GOTHIC  TAl'JiSTUY 

In  the  Metropolitan  Museum 


Plate  III— A  GOTHIC  "MILI.E-FI,EUR"  WITH 

ANIMALS 

Owned  by  the  late  Alexander  W.  Drake 


250 


GOTHIC  TAPESTRIES 

any  others,  illustrate  the  skilful  and  complete  use  of  hatchings,  com- 
bined with  horizontal  ribs  in  line  contrast,  to  produce  the  appearance 
of  form.  As  every  one  knows  or  should  know,  the  surface  of  wall 
tapestries  is  not  flat  but  consists  of  horizontal  ribs  in  relief;  in  other 
words,  the  surface  of  wall  tapestries  is  a  horizontal  rep.  The  ribs 
mark  the  presence  beneath  the  surface  of  the  warp  threads,  which  are 
the  threads  that  run  the  long  way  of  the  loom.  These  warp  threads 
do  not  show  on  the  surface  of  the  tapestry  at  all,  being  entirely  covered 
by  the  finer  weft  threads.  The  weft  threads  are  not  put  in  with  a 
shuttle,  but  with  bobbins.  They  all  pass  in  plain  weave  over  and  under 
alternate  warp  threads. 

Whilst  the  surface  of  the  high  lights  of  a  tapestry,  as  well  as  of 
the  shadows,  is  comparatively  plain  and  solid  in  tone  like  painting,  the 
middle  lights  between  consist  not  of  solid  tones,  but  of  vertical  spires 
of  colour  that  etch  into  each  other,  blue  and  yellow,  for  example, 
forming  gradations  from  blue  to  yellow  that  are  most  intricate  and 
beautiful.  This  blending  of  colours  by  hatching  is  called  "mixing 
colours  on  the  loom,"  and  is  indispensable  if  true  tapestry  texture  is 
to  be  obtained. 

I  have  said  that  the  middle  lights  are  made  up  of  hatchings.  In 
the  plain  or  solid-coloured  high  lights,  the  horizontal  ribs  stand  out 
boldly;  but  in  the  middle  lights,  the  horizontal  ribs  are  concealed 
beneath  the  coloured  hatchings.  Consequently,  there  is  an  extraor- 
dinary contrast  between  the  horizontal  ribs  of  the  high  lights,  and 
the  vertical  hatchings  of  the  middle  lights,  as  well  as  between  the 
vertical  hatchings  of  the  middle  lights  and  the  horizontal  ribs  of  the 
shadows.  The  result  is  that  the  high  lights  are  forced  out  to  the  front 
by  the  line  contrast,  that  is  to  say,  by  the  contrast  between  horizontal 
lines  in  relief  and  vertical  lines  in  colour;  are  forced  out  to  the  front 
farther  than  they  can  be  forced  out  in  any  other  form  of  art.  We 
have,  to  be  sure,  line  contrasts  in  line  engravings,  but  it  is  a  contrast 
of  flat  lines  without  relief,  and  usually  in  one  colour.  In  tapestries, 
the  line  contrast  of  horizontal  with  vertical  is  intensified  by  the  fact 
that  it  is  also  a  contrast  of  relief  with  colour.  These  line  con- 
trasts are  what  make  possible  the  extraordinary  drapery  effects 
obtained  in  Gothic  tapestries  like  that  illustrated  on  Plate  VII.  To 
my  mind  this  "Prophecy  of  Nathan"  is  a  perfect  exemplification  of 
the  brilliant  possibilities  of  tapestry  texture.  To  be  sure,  this  tapestry 
is  not  rich  with  gold  like  the  famous  Mazarin  tapestry  long  lent  by 

251 


Plate  IV-"THR  REDEMPTION  OF  MAX,"  A  LATE  GOTHIC  TAPESTRY  RICH  WITH  GOI.n 
Bequeathed  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  by  the  late  Col.  Oliver  II.  Payne 


Plate  V— "THI',  SON  OF  MAN,"  A  FOURTEENTH 

CENTURY  GOTHIC  TAPESTRY 

Of  the  famous  Apocalypse  set  at  Angers,  France 


saa 


Plate  VI— LOWER  RIGHT  CORNER  OF  "THE  REDEMPTION'  OF  MAN" 
Picturing  Moses  with  the  twelve  oomiiiandnients 


353 


X 
H 
CO 


X 
H 
O 
O 


< 


x° 
o 

w 


GOTHIC  TAPESTRIES 

Mr.  Morgan  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  and  now  owned  by  Mr. 
Widener  and  hanging  in  his  home  in  Philadelphia.  Nor  is  it  as  fine 
in  texture  as  the  Mazarin  tapestry.  But  because  of  its  comparatively 
coarse  texture  and  pronounced  hatchings,  it  does  illustrate  what  can 
be  accomplished  by  line  contrast  nmch  more  obviously  than  that  can 
be  illustrated  in  finer  textin-e. 

DESIGN'S  OF  GOTHIC   TAPKSTRIES 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Early  Gothic  tapestries  seldom  have  a 
border.  It  will  also  be  noticed  that  Late  Gothic  tapestries  usually 
have  a  narrow  flower-and-fruit  or  mille-fleur  border  about  six  inches 
wide.  Instead  of  border,  the  earlier  Gothic  tapestries  often  have 
captions  at  top  and  bottom,  in  Latin  at  the  bottom,  and  in  Old  French 
at  the  top,  with  nothing  at  the  sides.  The  only  Early  Gothic  tapestry 
with  which  I  am  acquainted  that  originally  had  a  border  all  around 
it  is  the  famous  "Seven  Sacraments"  tapestry,  five  fragments  of 
which,  about  half  of  the  original  tapestry,  were  presented  to  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  several  years  ago  by  the  late  J.  Pierpont 
Morgan.  This  tapestry  did  originally  have  a  border  all  around,  con- 
sisting of  a  brick  wall  with  floriation  outside.  This  brick  wall  and 
the  way  it  was  handled  made  a  very  intei'esting  study  that  was  pub- 
lished by  me  in  the  English  Burlington  Magazine  in  December,  1907. 

When  Gothic  tapestries  have  a  sky-line  at  all,  it  is  very  high, 
that  is  to  say,  there  is  verj^  little  sky  showing.  There  are  no  plein  air 
effects.  Every  inch  of  the  surface  is  filled  with  ornament  or  design. 
There  are  no  blank  spaces.  Tapestry  texture  does  not  flourish  on 
blank  spaces.  A  painter  utilizes  blank  spaces  to  get  contrasts  between 
shadows  and  high  lights.  Blank  spaces  and  j)lein  air  effects  come 
natural  to  paintings.  They  do  not  come  natural  to  tapestries,  and 
when  they  were  introduced  into  tapestries  in  the  course  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  and  more  fully  and  completely  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  tapestry  gradually  lost  all  of  its  best  qualities,  and  finally 
in  the  eighteenth  century  came  to  be  hardly  more  than  a  woven  imita- 
tion of  painting.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  tapestry  texture  was  so 
thoroughl}^  understood  and  so  much  in  AOgue  that  one  might  rather  say 
that  painting  imitated  tapestry  than  that  tapestry  imitated  painting. 
In  those  days  every  gentleman  had  real  tapestries,  which  were  then 
called  arras  (named  after  the  little  city  of  Arras  that  was  the  chief 
centre  of  production)    in  his  residence,  while  those  who  could  not 


Plate  VIII— ONE  OF  THE  FAMOUS  HARDWICKE  HAIJ,   HUNTING  TAPESTHIKS 

Owned  by  the  Duke  of  Devonshire. 


Plate  1X-"TH1';  WOOD-CUTTERS,"  A  FAMOUS  UATE  GOTHIC  TAPESTRY 
In  the  Musee  ties  Arts  D^coratifs  in  Paris 


356 


I'laU-  X     tJOTHlC  HINTING  TAPKSTHY 
III  the  Minneapolis  Museum  of  Kine  Arts 


2S7 


HMffsM-^r^ 


Plate  XI— PART  OF  THE  "ST.  PETER"  SERIES 
Given  to  the  Beauvais  cathedral  in  14(i0 


Plate  XII— "JOSEPH   PRESENTING   JACOB  TO  PHARAOH" 

A  fifteenth  century  Gothic  tapestry  lent  to  the  Boston 

Museum  of  Fine  Arts  by  Mr.  Frank  Gair  Macomber 


258 


GOTHIC  TAPESTRIES 

aflFord  real  tapestry  utilised  paintings  instead  for  the  decoration  of 
their  walls.    These  paintings  they  called  counterfeit  arras. 

Of  course,  the  general  effect  of  Gothic  tapestries  is  like  that  of 
Gothic  cathedrals,  a  vertical  effect.  This  vertical  effect  is  produced 
not  only  hy  the  predominance  of  the  vertical  hatchings  of  which  I  have 
just  been  speaking,  but  also  by  the  main  lines  of  the  figures  and  of 
the  composition.  There  are  introduced  a  great  many  upright  figures 
and  few  horizontal  lines  or  bands.  Gothic  art  is  a  vertical  art,  as 
contrasted  with  Classic  art  which  is  a  horizontal  vs  vertical  art,  or  a 
balanced  art  with  the  horizontal  holding  down  the  vertical. 

As  tapestries  approached  the  Renaissance,  horizontal  effects 
begin  to  be  accentuated.  The  sky-line  gets  lower  and  lower.  The 
architectural  and  decorative  ornament,  and  the  costumes,  begin 
to  look  more  like  the  Renaissance.  Shoes  cease  to  be  pointed  and 
the  toes  become  round,  later  spatulate.  Hats  become  flatter.  Arches 
become  less  pointed  and  begin  to  resemble  the  so-called  Tudor  arches. 

One  of  the  most  delightful  features  of  Late  Gothic  tapestries 
are  the  mille-fleiir  effects.  These  mille-fleur  effects  are  illustrated 
very  beautifully  on  Plate  III;  also  in  the  ground  of  Plate  XIII,  and 
of  Plate  XVli;  and  on  Plates  XI  and  XIII  of  Chapter  XVI. 

OLDEST  SET  IN  THE  WORLD 

The  oldest  set  of  tapestries  in  the  world  is  the  Apocalypse  at 
Angers  in  France,  mentioned  above,  one  piece  from  which  the  "Son 
of  Man"  is  illustrated  on  Plate  V.  This  tapestry  was  woven  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  for  the  French  king's  brother, 
the  Duke  of  Anjou.  The  designs  were  copied  from  an  illuminated 
manuscript  of  the  Apocalypse,  which  the  Duke  of  Anjou  borrowed 
from  his  royal  kinsman,  but  never  took  the  trouble  to  return. 

Originally  there  were  seven  pieces  in  the  set,  showing  ninety  sep- 
arate and  distinct  scenes,  eighteen  feet  high  with  a  combined  width  of 
472  feet — in  other  words,  944  square  yards  of  intricately  woven 
picture  tapestry.  Some  of  the  ninety  scenes  contained  each  more  than 
twenty-five  personages.  Today  the  height  of  the  set  is  only  fourteen 
feet  and  the  total  width  328  feet.  The  floriated  band  at  top  and 
bottom,  and  the  inscriptions,  have  worn  away  in  the  course  of  five 
hundred  years.  Of  the  ninety  scenes,  seventy  remain  intact,  and  there 
are  fragments  of  eight  others,  while  twelve  have  entirely  disappeared. 

The   subject   of  the   scene   illustrated  on   Plate   V,   from   the 

259 


Plate  XIII— "THF.  CRUCIFIXION,  LAST  SLPPF.H    AND   UKSURRKCTIOV 

A  fifteenth  century  Gothic  tapestry  iivthe  Chicago  Art  Institute 

Presented  by  tlie  Society  of  Antiquarians 


Plate  XIV— GOTHIC  "CREDO"  TAPESTRY 
In  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts 


360 


GOTHIC  TAPESTRIES 

Apocalypse  is  to  be  found  in  Chapter  I,  verses  12  to  20,  of  the  Book 
of  Revelation. 

Especially  interesting,  and  typical  of  the  war-like  tapestries  of 
the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  is  the  "Capture  of  Jerusalem 
by  Titus"  that  hangs  in  the  armour  room  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum, 
New  York.  Only  part  of  this  tapestry  is  illustrated  on  Plate  II,  but 
in  it  Titus  can  be  seen  scej^tre  in  left  hand,  crown  upon  his  head,  while 
one  of  his  generals  draws  his  attention  to  the  Ark  of  the  Tabernacle, 
and  to  the  rich  plate  which  has  been  taken  as  plunder  from  the  Jewish 
temple. 

One  of  the  most  striking  scenes  in  the  rest  of  the  tapestry  is 
where  the  soldiers  are  represented  as  searching  the  Jews  who  flee 
from  the  captured  city,  or  city  about  to  be  captured,  for  their  money. 
Titus  in  his  generosity  had  decreed  that  all  the  Jews  who  gave  up 
what  money  they  had,  be  allowed  to  go  free.  But  the  soldiers  heard 
that  some  of  the  Jews  swallowed  their  gold  and  silver  in  order  to  be 
able  to  take  it  with  them  through  the  Roman  lines.  The  scene  in 
question  shows  the  soldiers  searching  the  Jews  for  the  money  thus 
concealed.  The  scene  would  be  gruesome  in  painting,  or  indeed  in  any 
form  of  art  except  tapestry,  but  because  of  the  peculiarly  decorative 
texture  of  tapestry,  the  gruesomeness  is  so  toned  down  as  hardly  to 
be  offensive  at  all. 

HARDAVICKE  HAI,L  TAPKSTRIES 

The  most  important  Gothic  tapesti-ies  in  England  are  the  four 
so-called  Hardwicke  Hall  tapestries,  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire, and  lent  by  him  to  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  at  South 
Kensington.  These  hunting  tapestries  exemplify  wonderfully  the 
effectiveness  of  tapestry  texture,  and  also  throw  vivid  light  upon  the 
customs  of  the  time,  especially  ujion  the  hunting  customs,  at  a  period 
when  hunting  and  hawking  were  the  favourite  sports  of  royalty  and 
nobility.    One  of  these  famous  tapestries  is  shown  on  Plate  VIII. 

A  particularly  keen  interest  is  attached  to  this  set  of  four  tap- 
estries for  America,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  late  director  of  the 
Metropolitan  Museum,  Sir  Purdon  Clarke,  first  suggested  that  they 
be  re-assembled  out  of  the  fragments  into  which  they  had  been  cut 
for  use  as  portieres.  Under  his  direction  the  fragments  were  assorted 
and  repaired,  the  colours  being  slowly  and  with  difficulty  studied  out 
from  the  unfaded  back,  and 'reproduced  in  coloured  thread  upon  the 

261 


Plate  X\— "THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THE  VHIGIN' 
Gothic  tapestry  in  the  Royal  Spanish  collection 


n 


GOTHIC  TAPESTRIES 

surface.  This,  of  course,  illustrates  the  fact  that  the  backs  of  tapestries 
fade  less  than  the  faces;  indeed,  they  often  fade  not  at  all,  being 
shielded  from  the  light. 

PKACE  TAl'ESTHIES 

Plate  XI  illustrates  three  scenes  from  a  famous  set  of  tapestries 
presented  to  the  Cathedral  of  Beauvais  in  1460,  by  the  then  Bishop 
of  Beauvais,  Guillaume  de  Hellande.  The  coat-of-arms  of  the 
bishopric  of  Beauvais  is  seen  in  the  upper  right  and  lower  left  corners, 
whilst  the  family  coat-of-arms  of  Bishop  Guillaume  de  Hellande  is 
seen  in  the  upper  left  and  lower  right  corners.  The  reason  for  the 
2)aiir  that  appears  so  many  times  on  the  surface  of  the  tapestries,  not 
only  of  this  tapestry,  but  of  the  whole  set,  was  the  Bishop's  joy  at 
the  termination  of  the  Hundred  Years  War  between  England  and 
France. 

The  scenes  illustrated  are: 

1 — St.  Peter's  Vision  at  Joppa,  2 — Cornelius  Baptised  at 
Cajsarea,  3 — St.  Peter  Imprisoned  by  Herod  at  Jerusalem. 

This  is  a  most  extraordinary  set  of  tapestries,  several  of  which 
are  still  missing.  One  of  those  formerly  missing  is  now  in  the  Museum 
of  the  Gobelins.  Two  of  the  missing  ones,  which  had  been  lost  since 
the  time  of  the  French  Revolution,  were  recently  brought  to  the 
United  States,  and  constitute  what  is  one  of  the  greatest  Gothic 
treasures  in  this  country  still  to  be  acquired  by  some  great  museum. 

MINNEAPOLIS,  BOSTON  AND  CHICAGO 

Plate  X  illustrates  an  exquisite  piece  of  Gothic  hunting  tapestry 
given  to  the  Minneapolis  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  Director,  Joseph  Breck.  Mr.  Breck  was  very  wise  to  select  this 
piece.  He  very  rightly  suggests  that  it  was  probably  woven  at  the 
same  time  and  place  as  the  famous  Hardwicke  Hall  tapestries.  It 
may  be  part  of  one  of  the  set.  Notice  particularly  the  costumes  of 
the  gentlemen  and  of  the  ladies,  and  most  of  all,  the  light  that  is 
thrown  on  the  royal  sport  of  falconry. 

Plate  XII  illustrates  a  scene  from  the  "Story  of  Joseph"  lent  by 
Mr.  Frank  Gair  Macomber  to  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts.  It 
pictures  the  presentation  of  Jacob  to  Pharaoh  by  his  son  Joseph.  The 
story  is  told  by  the  old  French  verses  above  in  Gothic  lettering,  and 
the  different  characters  are  identified  by  having  their  names  woven 

263 


Plate  XVI— "THE  ADOIIATION  Ol'  THE  MAGI" 
Late  German  Gothic  tapestry  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum 


Plate  XVII— "THE  MASSACRE  OF  THE  INNOCENTS" 
Formerly  in  the  Hoentschel-Morgan  collections 


264 


GOTHIC  TAPESTRIES 

into  their  giirineiits,  Joseph,  zehulun,  pharaoh,  levi,  judas,  reuhen. 

The  Latm  iiiseription  rends,  translated:  "In  the  year  of  the 
World  2500  came  Jacob  as  ordered.  Pharaoh  made  great  joy  over 
him,  and  as  a  reward  to  Joseph  gave  his  father  the  land  of  Goshen 
for  "which  he  asked." 

The  tapestry  illustrated  on  Plate  XIII,  belonging  to  the  Chi- 
cago Art  Institute,  resembles  closely  (although  it  is  much  smaller) 
the  famous  Crucifixion  now  in  the  Brussels  Museum  which  was  bought 
at  the  Somzee  sale  in  1901  for  $14,000.  The  arrangement  of  the  two 
tajjestries  is  similar.  The  Crucifixion  is  in  the  middle,  with  the  Resur- 
rection on  the  right;  but  on  the  left  the  Brussels  tapestry  has  the 
Bearing  of  the  Cross,  while  the  Chicago  tapestry  has  the  Last  Supper. 
Instead  of  the  two  thieves  that  appear  in  the  Brussels  tapestry,  the 
Chicago  one  has  two  angels  and  fewer  personages,  as  is  consistent 
with  its  size. 

One  of  the  most  important  tapestries  in  the  world  is  the  Gothic 
Crucifixion  with  other  scenes,  the  gift  to  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine 
Arts  of  Mrs.  John  Harvey  ^Vright.  This  tapestry  illustrated  on 
Plate  XIV  was  purchased  in  Spain  in  1889.  It  has  been  carefully 
studied  by  Miss  Flint,  the  curator  of  textiles  at  the  Boston  Museum 
and  was  illustrated  and  ably  described  by  her  in  the  Museum  Bulletin 
for  February,  1909.  The  tapestry  was  woven  near  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  probably  in  Brussels,  and  is  fourteen  feet  two 
inches  high  by  twenty-seven  feet  three  inches  wide.  There  are  four 
scenes  separated  by  Gothic  jewelled  colunms.  The  two  outer  scenes 
are  widest,  the  one  on  the  right  picturing  the  Crucifixion,  the  one  on 
the  left  the  Creation  of  Eve.  The  two  inner  scenes  picture  the 
Baptism  of  Christ  and  the  Nativity.  At  the  top  of  the  Baptism  panel 
appears  God  wearing  the  Imperial  Crown,  the  Imperial  Globe  and 
Cross  in  His  left  hand,  dominating  not  only  that  panel,  but  also  the 
three  others. 

The  lower  third  of  the  tapestry  is  occupied  by  eight  seated  per- 
sonages whose  rich  robes  give  wonderful  colour,  and  conceal  the  lower 
part  of  the  jewelled  columns,  thus  tying  the  four  jjanels  closely 
together.  These  eight  personages,  whose  names  Gothic  captions  make 
clear,  are  paired  Old  Testament  with  New  Testament,  from  left  to 
right:  Jeremiah  and  Saint  Peter,  David  and  Andrew,  Isaiah  and 
James,  Hosea  and  John — prophets  and  apostles  intimately  associated 
with  the  life  of  Christ.    All  but  Isaiah  are  luxuriously  robed  in  bro- 

265 


Plate  XVIII— "THE  COURT  OF  I.OVE" 
Late  Gothic  tapestry  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum 


366 


GOTHIC  TAPESTRIES 

caded  velvet;  he  is  dressed  like  a  man  of  action,  short  coat  and 
trousers,  with  a  sword  stuck  by  his  side.  Bands  of  letters  adorn  his 
clothing,  letters  the  meaning  of  which  is  not  clear.  Jeremiah  is  rep- 
resented as  an  aged  man,  clean  shaven  and  wearing  a  slouch  hat.  St. 
Peter,  who  faces  him,  wears  spectacles  and  is  reading  a  scroll  which 
bears  his  name.  David  holds  a  sceptre  and  wears  a  crown.  Isaiah 
kneels  opposite  James,  who  is  apparently  conversing  with  Hosea. 

MADRID,  NKW  YOKK  AND  PARIS 

One  of  the  most  exquisitely  beautiful  and  technically  perfect 
tapestries  in  the  world  is  The  Triumph  of  the  Virgin,  illustrated  on 
Plate  XV.  It  is  a  Gothic  tapestry  in  the  Royal  Spanish  collection, 
and  closely  resembles  in  style  and  execution  the  famous  Mazarin 
tapestry.  The  centre  of  the  tapestry  is  occupied  by  the  Virgin,  while 
behind  her  is  figured  God  with  sceptre  in  His  right  hand.  On  one 
side,  above  her,  stands  Christ;  on  the  other  side  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Very  interesting  it  is  to  note  this  method  of  representing  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Frequently  in  Late  Gothic  tapestries  the  Holy  Ghost  is  rep- 
resented in  the  form  of  a  dove ;  not  infrequently  the  three.  Father,  Son 
and  Holy  Ghost,  are  represented  as  three  Kings,  all  with  the  same 
features,  and  all  with  sceptre  and  globe-and-cross  of  Empire,  except 
that  Christ,  when  seated,  always  has  the  globe-and-cross  of  Empire 
at  His  feet,  and  His  sceptre  turned  down  to  show  that  He  abnegates 
Temporal  Power. 

The  tapestry  illustrated  on  Plate  XVII  and  formerly  in  the 
Morgan  collection  is  one  of  those  comparatively  small  but  extremely 
interesting  pieces  woven  in  the  fifteenth  century  to  hang  above  choir 
stalls.  The  subject  is  "The  Massacre  of  the  Innocents."  On  the  left 
Herod  is  seen  in  the  act  of  giving  orders  to  the  executioners,  whilst  in 
the  middle  scene  the  executioners  are  carrying  the  orders  out,  and  on 
the  right  Joseph  and  Mary  are  seen  in  the  famous  Flight  to  Egypt. 

The  small  portion  of  a  tapestry  reproduced  on  Plate  I  shows 
on  a  large  scale  the  hatchings  which  are  such  an  important  and  vital 
part  of  almost  all  tapestries,  but  particularly  of  Late  Gothic  tap- 
estries. Note  particularly  the  vertical  colour  lines  in  the  draperies 
back  of  Bathsheba,  also  the  vertical  hatchings  on  the  skirt  of  David's 
robe.  The  series  of  ten,  of  which  this  tapestry  is  one,  is  now  at  the 
Musee  Cluny,  Paris,  and  was  woven  in  Flanders  at  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century. 

267 


CHAPTER  XIV 

RENAISSANCE  TAPESTRIES 

Renaissance  tapestries  differ  radically  from  Gothic  tapestries. 
The  style  of  design  has  entirely  changed  and  has  become  Italian 
instead  of  Frei^-Flemish.  The  sky  line  has  dropped  and  open  air 
and  perspec^^Bffects  have  been  introduced  boldly.  Shadows  are 
used  with  co^^^PFole  freedom  and  in  consequence  the  scale  of  orna- 
ment has  becwre  larger.  Especially  is  the  contrast  noticeable  between 
the  tiny  flowers  and  leaves  of  Gothic  mille-fleur  backgrounds  and 
borders,  and  the  backgrounds  and  borders  of  Flemish  Renaissance 
tapestries.  As  compared  with  the  line  designs  of  the  Gothic  centuries 
and  the  sculptural  designs  of  the  Baroque  seventeenth  century,  the 
designs  of  the  Renaissance  might  be  described  as  paint  designs,  in  this 
respect  resembling  the  Rococo  and  Classic  Revival  designs  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

RENAISSANCE  BORDERS 

Especiallj^  do  Renaissance  tapestries  differ  from  Gothic  tapestries 
as  regards  their  borders.  The  borders  of  Gothic  tapestries  are  either 
non-existent  or  narrow  as  in  Late  Gothic  tapestries,  which  have  flower 
and  fruit  borders  from  five  to  six  inches  wide.  The  borders  of 
Renaissance  tapestries  start  narrow  but  within  a  few  years  jump  to 
ten  or  even  eighteen  or  twenty  inches  wide.  Many  of  the  Early 
Renaissance  borders  were  from  ten  to  twelve  inches  wide.  The  borders 
from  seventeen  to  twenty-two  inches  wide  were  inspired  by  the  vertical 
woven  pilasters  originated  in  Raphael's  studio  for  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  tapestries  designed  by  Raphael  for  Pope  Leo  X  to  hang 
in  the  Sistine  Chapel.  These  woven  pilasters  Raphael's  favourite 
pupil,  Giulio  Romano,  developed  into  the  full  borders  for  both  sides 
and  bottom,  that  we  see  in  the  set  of  Acts  of  the  Apostles  tapestries 
woven  for  the  Emperor  Chai'les  V  and  now  in  the  Royal  Spanish  col- 

268 


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RENAISSANCE  TAPESTRIES 

lection  (Plate  II;  also  Plate  I  of  Chapter  XVI).  These  borders 
were  not  flower-and-fruit  borders,  but  compartment  borders,  each 
compartment  containing  some  allegorical  figure,  like  Charity  or 
Prudence,  with  the  I^atin  name  often  spelled  out  beneath  in  Roman 
letters. 

Of  these  compartment  borders  there  are  two  types,  the  Italian 
Renaissance  type  as  it  came  direct  from  the  pencil  of  Giulio  Romano, 
and  tlie  Flemish  Renaissance  type  as  it  was  modified  in  Flanders  by 
Flemish  designers  and  weavers.  Distinctive  of  Flemish  designers 
and  weavers  is  their  love  for  floriation  and  verdure.  Of  this  the 
I'amous  Gothic  mille-fleurs  are  splendid  evidence.  Consequently  they 
were  not  satisfied  with  the  plain  and  bare  backgrounds  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  compartments,  but  proceeded  to  fill  them  up  with 
Flemish  Renaissance  flowers  and  leaves.  The  border  of  Plate  II 
illustrates  the  Italian  Renaissance  type  of  compartment  border;  the 
border  of  Plate  XV  illustrates  the  Flemish  Renaissance  type  of  tom- 
partment  border. 

NUDES  AND  AVHISKEES 

Renaissance  designers  not  only  introduced  more  sky,  more  land- 
scape and  more  building  into  tapestries,  they  also  nudtiplied  the  use 
of  nudes.  The  Gothic  centuries  were  modest  centuries.  In  the 
famous  Seven  Sacraments  tapestry  presented  to  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  by  Mr.  Morgan,  even  the  traditionally  nude  figures  of  Adani 
and  Eve  are  clothed — not  heavily  clothed,  it  is  true,  but  still  clothed — 
not  entirely  nude.  The  Renaissance,  with  its  study  of  ancient  statuary 
and  imitation  of  ancient  painting,  changed  all  this.  Even  if  Giulio 
Romano  did  not  illustrate  Aretin  indecently,  as  has  been  said  by 
some,  yet  in  all  his  designs  there  is  a  passion  for  the  nude,  a  fondness 
for  the  unclothed,  which  definitely  distinguishes  the  spirit  and  motifs 
of  the  sixteenth  century  from  those  of  the  fifteenth.  The  personages 
of  Late  Gothic  tapestries,  such  as  the  Prophecy  of  Nathan,  illustrated 
on  Plate  VII  of  Chapter  XIII,  were  magnificently  and  splendidly 
draped  in  long  and  all-concealing  robes.  The  costumes  of  the  Renais- 
sance, more  or  less  borrowed  from  the  ancient  Romans,  reveal  much 
more. 

Wliiskers  also  distinguish  Renaissance  tapestries  from  Gothic 
tapestries.  The  fifteenth  centiu-y  had  been  a  clean-shaven  century. 
Men's  faces  had  seemed  completely  innocent  of  hair  and  their  heads 

271 


Plate  HI— "SAINT  PAUL  BEFORE  AGRIPPA  AND  BERENICE" 

Early  Renaissance  tapestry  in  the  Royal  Spanish  collection 


Plate  IV— "JOSEPH  SOLD  BY  HIS  BRETHREN" 
A  Renaissance  tapestry,  in  the  Foulke  collection 


372 


RENAISSANCE  TAPESTRIES 

burdened  but  lightly  with  hair.  Towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, however,  hair  began  to  be  worn  longer,  and  after  the  first  few 
years  of  the  Renaissance,  long  hair  and  whiskers  became  quite  the 
fashion. 

RAPHAEL  AND  HIS  PUPILS 

The  most  famous  Renaissance  designer  of  tapestries  is  Raphael, 
and  the  most  famous  set  of  Renaissance  tapestries  is  his  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  The  example  illustrated,  however,  on  Plate  II,  is  not  one 
of  the  original  set  which  hangs  now  in  the  Vatican,  but  one  of  the 
Royal  Spanish  set.  The  story  pictured  is  the  Blinding  of  Elymas 
as  told  in  verses  VI  to  XII  of  Chapter  XIII  of  Acts.  Elymas 
was  a  sorcerer  who  tried  to  turn  away  the  Roman  deputy  from  the 
true  faith.  But  Paul  said:  "Oh,  full  of  all  subtle  things  and  all 
mischief,  thou  child  of  the  devil,  thou  enemy  of  all  righteousness,  wilt 
thou  not  cease  to  pervert  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord?  And  now, 
behold,  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  blind, 
not  seeing  the  sun  for  a  season."  And  immediately  there  fell  upon  him 
a  mist  in  the  darkness;  and  he  went  about  seeking  someone  to  lead 
him  by  the  hand.  Then  the  deputy,  when  he  saw  what  was  done, 
believed,  being  astonished  at  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord. 

So  that  the  important  part  of  the  story  is  not  so  much  the  Blind- 
ing of  Elymus  as  the  conversion  of  the  deputy,  as  told  in  the  Latin 
inscription  in  the  tapestry  which  reads,  translated:  "Lucius  Sergius 
Paulus,  Proconsul  of  Asia,  embraces  the  Christian  faith  through  the 
preaching  of  Paul." 

OUR  LADY  OF  SABLON 

One  of  the  most  interesting  tapestries  in  the  world  is  Our  Lady 
of  Sablon,  now  in  the  Brussels  Museum.  It  formerly  belonged  to  the 
Spitzer  collection,  and  is  one  of  a  set  of  four,  each  having  three  scenes. 
The  story  interest  of  this  tapestry  is  very  great.  The  two  personages 
carrying  the  litter  in  the  middle  panel  of  the  tapestry  (Plate  VII) 
are  the  brothers  Charles  and  Ferdinand,  both  emperors  later,  the  first 
as  Charles  V  and  the  other  as  Ferdinand  I.  The  old  gentleman  in 
the  foreground  of  each  of  the  three  panels  is  the  Imperial  Postmaster, 
Francis  de  Taxis,  whose  name  appears  on  the  facade  of  the  new 
New  York  City  postoffice  on  Eighth  avenue,  placed  there  by  the  archi- 
tects, McKim,  Mead  &  White,  because  of  the  great  services  rendered 
by  him  in  the  development  of  communication  by  post. 

273 


HEXAISSANCE  TAPESTRIES 

The  personages  who  kneel  in  the  right  panel  of  the  tapestry  are 
Ferdinand,  his  four  sisters,  and  his  aunt  and  guardian,  IVIargaret  of 
Austria.  The  coat-of-arms  in  the  middle  of  the  top  border  of  the 
tapestry  is  that  of  Margaret  of  Austria. 

Our  Eady  of  Sablon  is,  of  course,  the  Virgin  borne  upon  the 
litter.  In  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  a  poor  woman  had 
found  this  image  neglected  in  the  Church  of  Notre  Dame  at  Antwerp. 
She  took  it  to  a  painter  who  enriched  it  with  gold  and  precious  colours. 
Then  she  restored  it  to  the  church,  where  it  immediately  insjjired 
devotion  in  all  who  beheld  it  and  attracted  many  worshippers.  Then 
the  Virgin  appeared  to  the  old  woman  and  bade  her  carry  the  statue 
to  Brussels.  When  the  warden  tried  to  prevent  her  from  taking  it, 
he  waS  struck  with  paralysis.  She  went  to  the  harbour  and  embarked 
in  an  empty  boat.  The  boat,  as  if  guided  by  the  Virgin's  own  hand, 
stemmed  the  current  and  brought  the  sacred  image  safely  to  Brussels. 
Here  the  old  woman  was  received  by  the  dignitaries  of  the  city,  and 
the  image  was  carried  in  triumphant  procession  to  the  Church  of  Our 
Lady  of  Sablon. 

In  designing  the  story  for  presentation  in  tapestry,  the  artist 
not  only  modeiiiised  the  costumes  but  also  substituted  for  the  ancient 
actors  of  the  fourteenth  centiny,  the  contemporary  ruler  of  the 
Netherlands,  Charles,  and  his  brother  Ferdinand. 

GIULIO  ROMANO 

The  two  most  prolific  tapestry  designers  of  the  Renaissance  were 
the  Italian  Giulio  Romano,  who  was  Raphael's  favourite  pupil,  and 
the  Fleming  Bernard  van  Orley,  who  is  said  to  have  also  worked  in 
Raphael's  studio. 

The  Scipio  designs  created  by  Giulio  Romano  in  illustration  of 
Livy's  History  of  Rome  were  wonderfully  popular,  and  were  not  only 
themselves  reproduced  with  more  or  less  fidelity  in  tapestry  during 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  but  also  inspired  a  host  of 
other  Scipio  tapestries  along  similar  lines.  Parts  of  the  story  that  had 
seemed  neglected  or  treated  briefly  in  Giulio  Romano's  designs,  were 
expanded  and  developed  into  complete  stories.  Giulio  Romano's 
designs  pictured  scenes  from  the  second  Punic  War  between  the 
Carthaginians  and  the  Romans  (B.  C.  218  to  202)  in  which  Publius 
Cornelius  Scipio,  called  Africanus  because  of  his  victories  in  Africa, 
won  the  empire  of  the  world  for  the  Romans. 

275 


^    5 


RENAISSANCE  TAPESTRIES 

By  some  delightful  turn  of  Fortune's  wheel,  part  of  the  finest 
set  of  Scipio  tapestries  with  which  I  am  acquainted  is  now  in  New 
York,  recently  brought  here  from  Madrid,  where  others  of  the  set 
still  remain.  The  set  is  Early  Renaissance  in  every  detail  of  design 
and  execution  and  all  the  tapestries  of  the  set  are  luxuriantly  rich 
with  gold,  inserted  with  marvellous  skill  in  plain  and  basket  and 
couched  weave,  the  last  producing  in  the  robes  brocaded  effects  that 
are  incomparably  magnificent. 

These  tapestries  are  in  every  way  equal  to  the  greatest  tapestries 
of  the  period,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  sets  at  the  Vatican  and  in  the 
Royal  Spanish  collection;  the  Abraham  sets  at  Hampton  Court,  in  the 
Imperial  Austrian  collection,  and  in  the  Royal  Spanish  collection;  the 
Moses  set  in  the  Imperial  Austrian  collection ;  the  Mercury  and  Herse 
tapestries  in  the  j)ossession  of  the  Spanish  Duchess  de  Denia,  and  of 
Mr.  George  Blumenthal. 

An  extraordinary  fact  about  tlie  four  tapestries  of  this  Scipio 
set  now  in  New  York,  is  that  they  have  not  been  injured  by  the  hand 
of  time;  they  are  as  fresh  and  in  as  perfect  condition  as  when  they 
first  came  from  the  loom.  It  is  said  that  they  have  passed  most  of 
their  existence  in  huge  cedar  chests,  protected  from  light  and  wear  as 
well  as  from  moths.  These  tapestries  are  conqjlete  evidence  that  the 
weavers  of  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  understood  how  to 
make  picture  tapestries  that  did  not  require  aging  to  become  beau- 
tiful. Never  since  then  have  weavers  displayed  the  same  skill.  Prob- 
ably the  first  Scipio  tapestries  made  from  the  designs  of  Giulio 
Romano  were  the  Francis  I  set,  rich  with  gold,  in  twenty-two  pieces, 
four  French  aunes  high  with  combined  width  of  a  hundred  and  twenty 
French  aunes  (roughly,  16  by  480  feet),  woven  in  Brussels  by  Marc 
Cretif  and  burned  for  the  gold  they  contained  in  1797,  [Note:  The 
length  of  a  French  aime  is  46%  inches,  roughly  4  feet  or  one  and 
one-fifth  metres.] 

The  most  complete  descriptive  list  that  we  have  of  Francis  I's 
Scipio  tapestries  is  from  a  royal  inventory  of  about  1660,  reproduced 
by  Reiset  in  his  "Desseins  au  Musee  Imperial  du  Louvre,  Paris,  1866." 
The  widths  of  the  diflFerent  tapestries  are  given  in  French  aunes.  The 
first  thirteen  of  the  tapestries  pictured  the  Deeds  of  Scipio;  the  last 
nine  the  Triumph  of  Scipio. 

By  some  strange  and  fortunate  chance  fifteen  of  Giulio  Romano's 
original  Scipio  drawings  (petits  patrons)  have  been  preserved  and 

277 


fint  A«J  Ituafs  ml^f  VintnuT     mBr-  , 


Plate  VII— "OUR  LADY  OF  SABLON" 

An  early  Renaissance  tapestry  in  the  Brussels  Museinn 


Plate  VIII--THK   DOLLFUS  CRUCIFIXION 

An  early  Renaissance  tapestry  rich  with  gold,  designed  by  Bernard  van  Orley, 

and  now  owned  bv  Mr.  Widener 


378 


RENAISSANCE  TAPESTRIES 

can  be  seen  at  the  Louvre.  These  drawings  average  in  size  17  inches 
high  by  22  inches  wide.  Nine  of  them  illustrate  nine  scenes  of  the 
Triumph  of  Scipio  mentioned  above;  the  other  six,  six  of  the  Deeds 
of  Scipio.  They  were  formerly  in  the  collection  of  Everhard  Jabach, 
from  whom  they  were  ijurchased  for  Louis  XIV  by  Lebrun. 

Of  the  full-size  cartoons  in  colour  (grands  patrons)  there  is  one 
in  the  Louvre  11  feet  7  inches  high  by  21  feet  2  inches  wide,  repro- 
ducing scene  number  two  of  the  Triumph  of  Scipio.  This  is  one  of 
four  cartoons  presented  to  I^ouis  XVI  in  1786  by  the  English  painter, 
Richard  Cosway,  who  bought  them  in  Venice,  where  thej-  had  been 
taken  in  1630  when  the  palace  of  the  Duke  of  Mantua  was  pillaged 
by  the  Imperial  troops. 

Another  famous  set  of  Early  Renaissance  tapestries,  also  prob- 
ably after  the  design  of  Giulio  Romano,  is  the  Story  of  Abraham,  of 
which  there  is  a  set  of  ten  in  the  Imperial  Austrian  collection  signed 
by  the  famous  Brussels  maker  of  tapestries,  William  van  Panne- 
maker;  a  set  of  seven  in  the  Royal  Spanish  collection,  signed  by  the 
same  maker;  and  a  set  of  eight  at  Hampton  Court.  In  1548  the 
whole  set  of  ten  was  still  at  Hampton  Court,  when  an  inventory  was 
taken  of  the  effects  of  Henry  VIII  "Tenne  peces  of  newe  Arras  of 
Thistorie  of  Abraham."  The  Spanish  set  formerly  belonged  to 
Charles  V's  daughter,  Joanna,  and  numbered  only  seven  in  the  inven- 
tory made  at  the  time  of  her  death  in  1570.  The  Austrian  set  has  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  panel,  on  the  right  and  on  the  left,  the  Lorraine 
coat-of-arms  with  the  Cardinal's  hat  of  Duke  Charles  of  Lorraine- 
Vaudemont  who  died  in  1587.  The  borders  of  these  Abraham  tap- 
estries are  divided  into  compartments,  after  the  fashion  of  the  com- 
partment borders  described  above.  The  story  of  each  tapestry  is  told 
in  a  Latin  inscription  on  a  goat's  hide  in  the  middle  of  the  top  border. 

BERNARD  VAN  ORLEY 

The  most  famous  set  of  tapestries  designed  by  Bernard  van 
Orley  is  the  Hunts  of  Maximilian  in  twelve  pieces,  one  for  each  month 
of  the  year  (Plate  IX).  The  first  set  was  woven  in  Brussels,  and 
now  hangs  in  the  Louvre.  It  was  long  in  the  possession  of  the  Duke 
de  Guise,  and  for  that  reason  is  often  called  Les  Belles  Chasses  de 
Guise.  While  these  tapestries  are  definitely  in  the  style  of  the 
Renaissance,  they  show  few  traces  of  the  paint  technique  that 
injured  so  mam-  of  the  tapestries  woven  from  Italian  Renaissance 

279 


Plate  IX— ONE  OF  THE  "HUNTS  OF  MAXIMILIAN" 
A  series  of  twelve  tapestries  designed  by  Bernard  van  Orley,  now  in  the  Louvre 


Plate   X— "HERCULES   KILLS   THE   DRAGON   OF 

THE  HESPERIDES" 

One  of  a  set  of  Renaissance  tapestries  in  the  Imperial 

Austrian  collection 


Plate  XI— "CHILDREN  PLAYING" 

Renaissance  tapestry  after  Giulio  Romano 


280 


Plate  XII—'THE  TRIUMPH  OF  VENUS" 
Uenaissunce  "grotesque"  tapestry  in  the  French  National  collection 


Plate  XIII— "MAKSVAS  FLAYED  IJV  APOI.LO" 
Renaissance  tapestry  in  the  Royal  Spanish  collection 


Plate  XIV— "THE  CREATION  OF  EVE" 
Renaissance  tapestry  in  the  Tapestry  Gallery  at  Florence 


381 


Ed 
X 


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ri 


RENAISSANCE  TAPESTRIES 

designs.  The  fact  is  that  Bernard  van  Orley,  living  in  Brussels 
as  he  did,  thoroughly  understood  tapestry  texture,  and  all  of  his 
tapestries,  even  those  that  are  most  Italian,  are  full  of  the  rich  effects 
inherited  from  Gothic  tapestries.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
Hunts  took  place  in  the  vicinity  of  Brussels,  and  that  the  Maximilian 
named  was  the  Emperor  Maximilian  who  was  the  grandfather  of 
Charles  V. 

TAPESTRY  SIGNATURES 

The  signatiu'es  of  Renaissance  tapestries  are  exceedingly  interest- 
ing. Gothic  tapestries  were  seldom  signed.  In  the  second  quarter  of 
the  sixteenth  century  the  habit  of  signing  tapestries  became  general. 
Indeed,  in  the  year  1528,  the  practice  was  confirmed  legally  by  the 
Emjieror  Charles  V  for  Brussels,-  and  in  1544  for  the  rest  of  the 
Netherlands.  During  the  sixteenth  century  Brussels  tapestries  were 
signed  with  the  Brussels  mark,  two  capital  B's  in  yellow  on  each  side 
of  a  red  shield,  in  the  bottom  selvage,  and  usually  on  the  left  side  of 
the  tapestry ;  and  with  the  weaver's  or  maker's  monogram  in  the  right 
selvage  of  the  tapestry. 

Among  monograms  that  have  been  identified,  perhaps  the  most 
famous  is  that  of  William  van  Pannemaker,  who  wove  the  famous 
Tunis  tapestries  for  the  Emjjeror  Charles  V,  picturing  the  Emperor's 
successful  and  victorious  expedition  to  Tunis.  The  designs  were  by 
Vermeyen,  who  accomj^anied  the  Emperor  for  the  purpose  of  sketch- 
ing the  scenes  on  the  spot  where  the  action  took  place.  A  full-length 
portrait  of  the  designer  appears  in  the  first  tapestry  of  the  set,  and  the 
story  of  each  tapestry  is  told  by  long  Spanish  captions  in  the  top 
borders  and  by  long  Latin  captions  in  the  bottom  borders.  The  orig- 
inal set  is  in  the  Royal  Spanish  collection,  but  in  the  Imperial 
Austrian  collection  there  is  a  set  woven  a  hundred  and  fifty  years 
later  by  I.  De  Vos,  whose  name,  together  with  the  Brussels  mark, 
appears  in  the  bottom  selvage,  in  the  same  form  as  in  the  bottom 
selvage  of  the  Parnassus  tapestry  of  the  Stuart  collection  in  the  New 
York  Public  Library. 


CHAPTER  XV 

GOBELINS,  BEAUVAIS,  MORTLAKE  TAPESTRIES 

During  the  seventeenth  century,  owing  to  the  pohcy  of  "pro- 
tecting and  encouraging  home  industries"  of  Henri  IV,  Louis  XIII 
and  Louis  XIV,  and  of  the  wise  and  efficient  prime  ministers,  Riche- 
lieu, Mazarin  and  Colbert,  niajuifacturers  flourished  in  France  and 
Paris  became  the  decorative  capital  of  the  world.  During  the  Gothic 
and  Renaissance  centuries,  first  Arras,  then  Brussels,  had  been  the 
centre  of  tapestry  weaving.  In  the  Baroque  seventeenth  century  the 
supremacy  in  tapestry  was  transferred  from  Brussels  to  Paris;  and 
ever  since,  the  name  most  famous  in  connexion  with  tapestry  has  been 
that  of  the  Gobelins. 

The  Gobehns  is  a  most  interesting  institution,  open  in  times  of 
peace  to  visitors  on  Wednesday  and  Satin'day  afternoons  from  1  to  3. 
The  trip  is  an  easy  one  by  automobile,  or  street  car,  or  motor  bus, 
from  the  Halles  across  to  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine,  and  out  the  long 
Avenue  des  Gobelins.  The  entrance  to  the  courtyard,  with  Les 
Gobelins  on  the  gate  beneath  RF,  is  simple  but  impressive. 

Oddly  enough  the  family  of  Gobelins,  whose  name  has  become 
inextricably  associated  with  tapestries,  were  not  tapestry  weavers  and 
never  had  anything  to  do  with  tapestry  weaving.  As  is  shown  by  the 
inscription  at  the  left  of  the  entrance  gate;  "Jean  and  Philibert 
Gobelin,  merchant  dyers  of  scarlet,  who  have  left  their  name  to  this 
quarter  of  Paris  and  to  the  tapestry  factory,  had  their  works  here  at 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century." 

The  Gobelin  family  prospered,  and  from  dyers  finally  became 
financiers.  By  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  dyeing  was 
beneath  their  dignity  and  they  were  glad  to  dispose  of  the  property 
that  had  made  them  rich,  and  was  to  make  them  famous. 

As  is  shown  by  the  inscription  at  the  right  of  the  entrance  gate: 
"April,  1601,  Marc  de  Comans  and  Francois  de  la  Planche,  Flemish 

284 


Plate  I— BEAUVAIS  TAPESTRY  DESIGNED  BY  BKUAIN 

385 


of 

K  So 
0-  . 


-Lo 


GOBELINS,  BEAUVAIS,  MORTLAKE  TAPESTRIES 

tapestry  weavers,  instal  their  workrooms  on  the  banks  of  the  Bievre." 
Theirs  is  the  tapestry  phmt  often  described  as  the  "Early  GobeHns" 
by  contrast  with  the  Gobehns  after  it  became  the  property  of  the 
Crown  sixty  years  later.  The  Bievre  is  the  little  stream  in  the  rear, 
now  covered  and  no  longer  used,  that  was  greatly  cherished  by  dyers 
of  red  in  ancient  days,  because  of  the  special  virtues  that  made  its 
waters  suitable  for  their  purpose.  Frans  Van  Den  Planken  (the 
Flemish  form  of  the  name)  came  from  Audenarde,  Marc  de  Comans 
from  Brussels.  Although  the  partnership  was  formed  and  became 
active  in  January,  1001,  for  the  manufacture  of  tapestries  and  for 
other  important  commercial  operations,  the  royal  edict  of  Henri  IV 
officially  incorporating  the  business,  and  granting  it  large  subventions 
and  important  privileges,  while  imposing  on  it  heavy  burdens  such  as 
the  training  of  many  apprentices  and  the  operating  of  tapestry  works 
in  the  provinces,  is  dated  1607.  This  is  the  edict  that  was  used  as  a 
model  by  the  English  a  few  years  later  in  organising  the  tapestry 
works  at  Mortlake. 

That  the  enterprise  prospered  is  proved  by  a  report  on  it  dis- 
covered a  few  years  ago  in  the  archives  of  the  Barberini  family  of 
Rome,  as  well  as  by  the  tapestries  tliat  are  still  preserved :  notably  the 
sets  picturing  the  "Story  of  Diana"  after  Toussaint  Dubreuil,  in  the 
French  National  Collection  (Plate  II)  ;  in  the  Royal  Spanish  collec- 
tion; and  in  the  Morgan  Memorial  at  Hartford,  lent  by  Mr.  Morgan. 
That  the  greatest  painters  were  employed  is  shown  by  a  letter  dated 
February  26,  1626,  from  Rubens  dunning  M.  Valaves  for  money  due 
on  designs  of  the  "Story  of  Constantine."  In  the  inventory  made  at  the 
death  of  Planche  (Planken),  these  are  described  as:  "Twelve  small 
designs  painted  in  oil  on  wood,  from  the  hand  of  Peter  Paul  Rubens, 
representing  the  story  of  Constantine."  The  designs  were  woven 
again  and  again,  and  there  are  several  examples  of  each  in  the  French 
National  collection.  Another  set  for  which  the  Early  Gobelins  is 
famous  is  the  "Story  of  Artemisia,"  originated  to  celebrate  the  widow- 
hood of  Catherine  de  Medicis,  wife  of  Henri  II,  but  adapted  and 
given  new  borders  to  comfort  Marie  de  Medicis  and  Anne  d'Autriche, 
wives  of  Henri  IV  and  Louis  XIII,  in  their  similar  bereavements. 

After  the  death  of  Francois  de  la  Planche,  his  son  Raphael  drew 
out  his  interest,  and  set  up  a  rival  establishment  in  the  Faubourg 
Saint  Germain.  Twenty  years  later  another  low-warp  plant  with 
Flemish  weavers  was  established  by  Foucquet  at  Maincy,  near  his 

287 


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GOBELINS,  BEAUVAIS,  MORTLAKE  TAPESTRIES 

wonderful  estate  Vaux-le-Vicomte.  These  three  low-warp  plants, 
together  with  the  ancient  hut  smaller  high-warp  ones  of  the  Trinite 
and  the  I^ouvre,  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  "Royal  Furniture  Factory 
of  the  Crown"  formally  established  by  royal  decree  at  the  Gobelins  in 
1667,  with  Charles  Lebrun,  who  had  previously  been  the  unfortunate 
Foucquet's  decorator  and  painter,  as  art  director. 

LOUIS  XIV  AND  LEBRU;^^ 

The  organisation  of  the  Gobelins,  from  1662  to  1667,  owed  every- 
thing to  the  energetic  care  and  forethought  of  Louis  XIV's  great 
minister,  Colbert.  He  was  the  moving  spirit  behind  it  all,  and  he  saw 
that  the  sinews  of  art  in  the  form  of  money  were  not  lacking.  The 
workmen  received  quarters  on  the  premises,  together  with  the  small 
gardens  that  are  still  one  of  the  attractions  tending  to  reconcile  them 
to  small  wages.  The  different  shop  managers  worked  each  on  his  own 
account.  The  Crown  supphed  them  with  wools,  silks,  gold  and  silver 
tinsel,  the  cost  of  which  was  retained  out  of  the  finished  tapestries  paid 
for  at  a  rate  fixed  in  advance.  The  shop  managers  were  not,  however, 
restricted  to  woi-k  for  the  Crown.  They  were  allowed  to  accept  com- 
missions from  dealers  and  from  individuals.  They  paid  their  men  by 
the  piece  at  a  rate  varying  for  the  different  portions  of  a  tapestry, 
according  to  the  difficulty  in  weaving  and  the  skill  required. 

The  greatest  series  of  tapestries  woven  at  the  Gobelins  after  it 
became  a  state  institution,  and  the  one  that  first  suggests  itself  to 
all  who  know  about  Gobelin  tapestries,  is  the  "Story  of  the  King," 
after  Lebrim.  Here  we  find  pictured  in  fourteen  huge  webs  the  solemn 
and  official  glorification  of  the  more  important  events  of  the  life  of 
Louis  XIV,  amongst  them  his:  "Coronation  in  1654,"  "Marriage  in 
1660,"  "Entrance  into  Dunkirk  after  its  recovery  from  the  English, 
in  1662,"  "Renewal  of  the  Franco-Swiss  Affiance,  at  Notre  Dame  in 
1663,"  "Siege  of  Tournai  in  1667,"  "Capture  of  Lille  in  1667,"  "Visit 
to  the  Gobelins  in  1667,"  "Capture  of  Dole  in  1668."  The  first  set, 
rich  with  gold  and  woven  on  high-warp  looms,  was  16  feet  6  inches 
high  with  an  average  width  of  24  feet  6  inches.  The  other  three  sets, 
rich  witli  gold  but  woven  on  low-warp  looms,  were  only  three-fourths 
as  high  and  narrower  in  proportion. 

Other  sets  designed  by  Lebrun  are: 

(1)    "The  Royal  Residences,"  in  twelve  pieces,  one  for  each 
month,   each   showing  one   of   the   royal   palaces,   the   Louvre,   the 

289 


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GOBELINS,  BEAUVAIS,  MORTLAKE  TAPESTRIES 

Tuileries,  Versailles,  Chambord,  etc.,  backgrounding  hunting  scenes, 
promenades,  cavalcades  and  balls,  appropriate  to  the  season,  framed 
on  each  side  with  columns  and  pilasters,  and  above  with  massive  entab- 
lature, while  in  the  foreground  valets  in  the  royal  livery  spread  rich 
stuffs  over  a  balustrade.  During  the  King's  life,  this  set  was  rewoven 
at  the  Gobelins  more  often  than  any  other. 

(2)  The  "Elements"  and  the  "Seasons,"  each  in  four  pieces, 
with  Latin  captions  and  allegorical  emblems  in  the  Renaissance 
fashion.  They  were  reproduced  six  times  at  the  Gobelins  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  often  copied  at  Brussels,  Aubusson  and 
Felletin,  and  in  England. 

(3)  The  "Child  Gardeners,"  in  six  pieces,  in  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent spirit,  light  and  gay  and  humourous,  woven  five  times  in  twenty 
years  on  low-warp  looms. 

(4)  The  "Story  of  Alexander"  (Plate  III),  an  especial 
favourite  at  Court  because  of  the  allusion  in  it  to  events  in  the  life  of 
Louis  XIV.  It  was  reproduced  eight  times  at  the  Gobelins,  and  often 
at  Brussels,  Audenarde,  and  Aubusson,  and  in  England.  Lebrun 
painted  the  five  huge  pictures  entirely  with  his  own  hands,  one  of  them, 
the  "Family  of  Darius  at  Alexander's  Feet,"  at  Fontainebleau,  in  the 
presence  of  the  King  himself.  The  other  scenes  were  the  "Passage  of 
the  Granicus,"  the  "Battle  of  Arbela,"  the  "Battle  with  Porus," 
"Alexander  Entering  Babylon."  The  three  battle  scenes  were  so 
large  that  each  was  woven  in  three  pieces.  Four  tapestries  of  the  set, 
lent  by  the  French  government,  were  recently  exhibited  at  the  Brook- 
lyn Museum,  together  with  several  modern  Gobelins,  and  two  ancient 
Louis  XIV  savonneries. 

As  the  King  grew  older  and  France  less  successful  in  war  and 
hi  commerce,  the  subjects  of  tapestries  changed  their  character.  There 
was  a  distinct  movement  away  from  contemporary  and  back  to  Biblical 
and  Greek  and  Roman  history,  and  to  Renaissance  designs.  Instead 
of  the  "Stoi'y  of  the  King"  we  have  the  "Story  of  Moses,"  in  ten 
pieces,  eight  after  Poussin  and  two  after  Lebrun.  Already  Raphael's 
famous  "Acts  of  the  Apostles"  tapestries  designed  by  Pope  Leo  X 
had  been  copied  at  the  Gobelins.  Now,  the  weavers  reproduced  also 
Raphael's  "Chambers  of  the  Vatican"  and  "Sujets  de  la  Fable"; 
Giulio  Romano's  "Story  of  Scipio"  and  "Fruits  of  War";  Bernard 
van  Orley's  "Hunts  of  Maximilian";  the  "Arabesque  Months";  the 
"Months  of  Lucas." 

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GOBELINS,  BEAUVAIS,  MORTLAKE  TAPESTRIES 

When  Lebrun  died  in  1690,  he  was  succeeded  by  Pierre  Mignai'd, 
who  had  ah-eady  undermined  his  power.  The  only  important  tapestries 
by  Mignard  are  the  set  of  six  copied  from  his  paintings  in  the  Gallery 
of  Saint  Cloud:  Spring,  Summer,  Autumn,  Winter  (Plate  IV), 
Parnassus,  Latona. 

The  "Indies"  is  a  set  of  eight  vigorous  anunal  tapestries  copied 
from  paintings  "painted  on  the  spot"  and  presented  to  the  King  by 
the  Prince  of  Nassau.  In  honour  of  the  visits  of  the  Czar  Peter  the 
Great  to  the  Gobelins  in  1717,  the  first  high-warp  set  of  the  "Indies" 
was  presented  to  him.  A  set  based  upon  old  Brussels  tapestries 
called  on  the  books  of  the  Gobelins  "Rabesques  de  Raphael,"  is  the 
"Triuniphs  of  the  Gods,"  after  Noel  Coypel. 

Among  the  most  successful  of  the  new  sets,  after  the  period  of 
inactivity  at  the  Gobelins  from  1694  to  1697,  due  to  lack  of  money  in 
the  royal  piu'se,  were  the  "Four  Seasons"  and  the  "Four  Elements" 
(the  "Portieres  of  the  Gods")  after  Claude  Audran.  Other  sets 
begun  in  the  declining  years  of  Louis  XIV  were  the  "Old  Testa- 
ment," in  eight  pieces,  after  Antoine  and  Charles  Coypel;  the  "New 
Testament,"  in  eight  pieces,  after  Jean  Jouvenet  and  Jean  Restout; 
the  "Metamorphoses  of  Ovid,"  in  fifteen  pieces,  after  diff'erent 
painters. 

I.OUIS  XV  AND  COYPEL 

Upon  the  death  of  Louis  XIV  in  171.5,  he  was  succeeded  by  his 
five-year-old  great-grandson  Louis  XV,  during  whose  minority, 
Philip,  Duke  of  Orleans,  was  Regent.  Compared  with  the  age  of 
Louis  XIV,  the  periods  of  the  Regency  and  of  Louis  XV  were 
frivolous.  In  his  youth  Louis  XIV  had  worshipped  war  and  glory; 
in  his  old  age,  religion  and  the  Chinx-h.  During  the  reign  of  Louis 
XV  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men  were  less  exalted  and  set  more  on 
the  joys  of  the  present.  Instead  of  the  "Story  of  the  King"  after 
Lebrun,  we  have  the  "Hunts  of  Louis  XV"  after  Oudry.  Domestic 
and  pastoral  life  was  idealised,  as  in  the  story  of  "Daphnis  and 
Chloe,"  designed  by  the  Regent  himself,  assisted,  some  say,  by  Charles 
Coypel.  Anotlier  Regency  set  was  the  "Iliad"  in  five  pieces,"  by 
Antoine  and  Charles  Coypel. 

Of  all  eighteenth  century  Gobelin  tapestries,  the  Don  Quixote 
series  in  twenty-eight  scenes,  by  Charles  Coypel,  was  most  admired 
and  most  frequently  reproduced.     The  first  scene  was  designed  by 

293 


Plate  VI     "THE  TOILET  OF  ESTHER" 
Louis  XV  Gobelin  tapestry  designed  by  De  Troy 


gobelins:  fiEAuvAis;  morti.ake  tapestries 

Coypel  in  1714  when  he  was  barely  twenty;  the  last,  in  1751,  a  few 
years  before  his  death.  The  frames  of  these  Don  Quixote  tapestries, 
of  wliich  there  are  five  perfect  examples  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum, 
lent  by  Mrs.  Dixon,  are  quite  as  important  as  the  pictures  and  take 
up  "much  more  room.  Indeed,  the  pictures  are  but  miniature  medal- 
lions set  in  a  decorative  mat  that  is  framed  inside  and  outside  with 
woven  gilt  mouldings  in  imitation  of  wood.  One  of  the  five  tapestries 
was  presented  by  Napoleon  in  1810  to  the  Prince  of  Hesse-Darm- 
stadt; the  other  four,  by  Louis  XVI,  in  1774,  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Rheims,  who  had  baptised  him,  given  him  first  comnmnion,  and 
married  him,  and  who  crowned  him  at  Rheims  the  following  year.  All 
five  were  acquired  by  the  late  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  from  the  estate  of 
Don  Francisco  d'Assisi,  grandfather  of  the  present  King  of  Spain. 

Other  taiJestries  originated  at  the  Gobelins  in  the  reign  of  Louis 
XV,  were  Charles  Coypel's  "Opera  Fragments,"  in  four  pieces;  the 
"Story  of  Esther,"  in  seven  pieces,  after  Jean  Francois  de  Troy 
(Plate  VI);  "Daphnis  and  Chloe,"  in  seven  pieces,  after  Etienne 
Jeaurat  (of  which  three  pieces  were  recently  sold  at  auction  in  New 
York) ;  the  "Arts,"  in  four  pieces,  after  Jean  Restout;  "Stage  Scenes," 
in  five  pieces,  after  Charles  Coypel;  the  "Loves  of  the  Gods,"  twenty- 
two  pieces,  of  which  "Venus  and  Vulcan,"  "Cherubs,"  and  the  "Genius 
cf  the  Arts"  were  by  Boucher. 

Subjects  designed  by  Boucher  for  the  Gobelins  after  he  became 
chief  inspector  in  1755,  were  "Vertumnus  and  Pomona,"  "Neptune 
and  Amymone,"  "Venus  at  the  Forge  of  Vulcan,"  "Venus  Leaving 
the  Water,"  "Fishing,"  the  "Fortune  Teller,"  "Jupiter  and  Callisto," 
"Psyche  Looking  at  Cupid  Asleep,"  and  four  that  tell  the  "Story  of 
Amintas  and  Sylvia."  Like  the  Don  Quixote  series  of  Charles  Coypel, 
most  of  these  were  reproduced  small,  with  wide  damasse  mats  between 
woven  mouldings.    The  frames  were  by  Jacques  and  Tessier. 

During  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  Gobelin  shop 
managers  executed  many  portraits  in  tapestry ;  notably  Audran,  the 
one  of  Louis  XV,  after  Vanloo.  Also,  as  a  result  of  the  influence  of 
Madame  de  Pompadour,  many  furniture  tapestries — seats  and  backs 
of  chairs  and  sofas,  and  panels  for  screens — were  made  after  the 
models  of  Tessier,  Jacques,  and  Boucher. 

The  only  new  sets  originated  at  the  Gobelins,  during  the  reign 
of  Louis  XVI  (1774-1792) ,  the  "History  of  Henri  IV,"  in  six  pieces, 
after  Vincent;  the  "Seasons,"  in  four  pieces,  after  Callet;  the  "History 

295 


Plate  VII— "THE  FARM" 
Beauvais  tapestry  designed  by  Huet 


Plate  VIII— THE  "PARNASSUS"  TAPESTRY  IN  THE  NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 
A  Louis  XIV  Brussels  woven  by  Judocus  de  Vos  who  signed  it 

296 


GOBELINS,  BEAUVAIS,  MORTLAKE  TAPESTRIES 

of  France,"  in  nine  pieces,  after  different  painters,  were  unimportant 
from  the  tapestry  point  of  view. 

Since  then,  few  great  tapestries  have  heen  originated  at  the  Gobe- 
lins, although  it  still  continues  to  be  the  artistic  centre  of  tapestry 
weaving.  Modern  Gobelin  tapestries  follow  too  closely  the  technique 
of  the  planted  cartoons,  and  even  the  spirited  Joan  of  Arc  series 
suffers  greatly  in  its  execution  by  comparison  with  Gothic  and 
Renaissance  texture. 

THE  BEAUVAIS  TAPESTRY  W^ORKS 

On  August  5,  1664,  three  years  before  the  incorporation  of  the 
"Furniture  Factory  of  the  Crown"  at  the  Gobelins,  the  King  signed 
an  edict  subsidising  and  conferring  special  privileges  on  "The  royal 
manufactures  of  high-  and  low-warjj  tapestries  established  at  Beauvais 
and  other  places  in  Picardy."  This  was  the  origin  of  the  Beauvais 
Tapestry  Works,  founded  by  a  native  of  Beauvais,  Louis  Hinart,  who 
was  an  experiei^ced  maker  and  merchant  of  tapestries,  having  a  shop 
in  Paris  where  he  disposed  of  the  goods  made  at  his  factory  in  Flanders. 
Although  the  King  was  exceedingly  generous  with  his  subventions 
and  also  purchased  many  tapestries  from  Hinart,  the  latter  was  unable 
to  make  the  enterprise  prosper  at  Beauvais,  and  in  1684  was  obliged  to 
retire. 

Cronstrom,  the  Paris  agent  of  the  Swedish  Crown,  says  that  the 
reason  Hinart's  creditors  forced  him  into  bankruptcy  was  that 
Madame  de  Montespan  had  entrusted  the  factory  established  at  Paris 
by  Philip  Behagle  of  Tournai,  with  the  execution  of  the  tapestries 
after  Berain  she  was  having  made  for  her  son,  the  Count  of  Toulouse, 
and  that  Hinart's  best  workmen  left  him  to  go  with  Behagle.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  when  Hinart  retired,  Behagle  succeeded  him  as 
proprietor  of  the  Beauvais  Tapestry  Works,  and  made  good  from  the 
first.  Among  important  sets  woven  by  him  are  the  "Conquests  of 
Louis  the  Great,"  rich  with  gold,  two  pieces  of  which  are  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Signor  Candido  Cassini  of  Florence;  the  "Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles," after  Raphael,  signed  by  Behagle  and  still  preserved  at  the 
Beauvais  Cathedral;  the  "Adventures  of  Telemachus,"  in  six  pieces, 
after  Arnault;  the  "Story  of  Achilles,"  the  "Grotesques,"  on  yellow 
ground  (Plate  I),  and  the  "Marine  Divinities,"  all  after  Berain;  the 
"Battles  of  the  Swedish  King,  Charles  XI,"  after  Berain,  a  set  rich 
with  gold  still  preserved  in  the  Royal  Swedish  collection. 

297 


Plate  IX— "LE  DEPIT  AMOUREUX" 
Beauvais  tapestry  designed  by  Oudry,  formerly  in  the  Morgan  collection 


298 


GOBELINS,  BEAUVAIS,  MORTLAKE  TAPESTRIES 

Although  Rehagle  left  the  business  in  a  flourishing  condition 
when  he  died  in  170G,  his  widow  and  sons  were  not  equal  to  the  task 
of  keeping  it  up,  and  in  1711  were  succeeded  by  the  brothers  Filleul, 
who,  in  1722,  were  succeeded  by  IVIerou.  The  most  important  set 
originated  under  the  bi-others  Filleul  was  the  "Chinese  Set"  in  six 
pieces,  after  Vernansaal,  Fontenay,  and  Dunions,  one  of  which  was 
shown  at  the  Buffalo  Tapestry  Exhibition.  Neither  the  brothers 
Filleul  nor  Merou  were  able  to  make  a  success  of  the  business,  and 
in  1734  the  latter  retired  in  favor  of  Nicholas  Besnier. 

OUDRV  AND  BOUCHER 

Besnier  was  a  practical  man  of  affairs  who  splentlidly  seconded 
the  artistic  efforts  of  Jean  Baptiste  Oudry,  whose  appointment  as  art 
director  of  the  Beauvais  Tapestry  Works  in  1726  had  been  the  most 
important  event  of  Merou's  administration.  Any  tapestry  signed 
Besniek  et  Ouuky  in  the  bottom  selvage  is  worthy  of  close  attention. 
Under  Mei-ou,  Oudry  had  delivered  the  cartoons  of  the  "Chasses 
Nouvelles"  in  six  pieces  (the  Wolf,  the  Stag,  the  Fox,  the  Wild 
Boar,  the  Hound,  the  Deer)  ;  the  "Amusements  Champetres,"  in 
eight  pieces;  the  "Comedies  of  MoHere"  (Plate  IX),  in  four  pieces, 
three  of  them  formerly  on  exhibition  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of 
Art,  lent  by  Mr.  Morgan,  and  before  that  in  the  Kann  collection.  The 
most  important  sets  designed  by  Oudry  for  Beauvais  after  1734  were 
the  "Metamorijhoses"  (Plate  VIII  in  Chapter  XII),  in  eight  pieces; 
the  "Fine  Verdures,"  in  ten  pieces;  the  "Fables  of  Lafontaine,"  in 
four  pieces. 

■  Undoubtedly,  tapestry  owes  more  to  Oudry  than  to  any  other 
man  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Although  his  point  of  view  on  tap- 
estry texture,  and  on  the  imitation  of  painting  by  tapestry,  was  abso- 
lutely and  hopelessly  wrong,  his  brilliant  work  at  Beauvais  revived 
the  industry  there  and  brought  him  the  appointment  of  art  director 
at  the  Gobelins  also. 

Even  more  important  than  Oudry's  own  designs  for  Beauvais, 
were  those  he  secured  from  other  painters,  notably  Francois  Boucher 
who  was  responsible  for  no  less  than  six  sets  in  forty-five  pieces,  repro- 
duced seven  or  eight  times;  in  1743,  the  "Chinese  Set,"  for  which 
Dumons  painted  the  cartoons  after  Boucher's  sketches;  in  1749,  the 
"Loves  of  the  Gods,"  in  nine  pieces;  in  1752,  "Opera  Fragments," 
in  five  pieces;  in  1755,  the  "Noble  Pastorale"  (Plate  X) ,  in  six  pieces, 

299 


Plate  X— "Fl SUING" 
Beauvais  tapestry  designed  by  Boucher.     One  of  the  famous  "Noble  Pastorale"  set 


300 


GOBELINS,  BEAUVAIS,  MORTLAKE  TAPESTRIES 

the  set  of  which  formerly  in  the  Kann  collection,  now  hangs  in  a 
private  residence  in  Los  Angeles.  There  is  a  perfect  example,  the 
"Bird  Catchers,"  in  the  ^Vhitney  Collection  in  New  York  City. 

Boucher's  work  for  Beauvais  aroused  tlie  jealousy  of  the  weavers 
at  the  Gohelins,  and  in  a  memorial  to  the  administration  dated  March 
10,  1754,  the  three  shop  managers,  Audran,  Cozette,  and  Neilson, 
wrote  that  "to  prevent  the  decadence  of  the  Gobelin  factory,  it  Avould 
be  necessary  to  attach  to  it  Sr.  Boucher,  and  that  for  nearly  twenty 
years  the  Beauvais  factory  has  been  kept  up  by  the  attractive  paint- 
ings made  for  it  by  Sr.  Boucher."  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
appeal  was  listened  to.  and  that  Boucher  was  detached  from  Beauvais, 
and  attached  to  the  Gobelins,  but  never  made  any  tapestry  designs 
of  great  importance  thereafter.  Fine  Beauvais-Boucher  tapestries 
in  good  condition  are  worth  today  from  $100,000  to  $2.50,000  each. 

Besnier's  death  in  1753  preceded  that  of  Oudry  by  two  years. 
Besnier  was  followed  as  proprietor  of  the  Beauvais  Tapestry  Works 
by  Andre  Charlemagne  Charron,  who  was  able  to  continue  his  suc- 
cesses. Among  sets  originated  under  Charron  were:  "Scenes  from 
the  Iliad,"  in  seven  pieces,  after  Deshays;  the  "Russian  Games,"  in 
six  pieces,  after  Jjcprince;  the  "Bohemians,"  in  four  pieces,  after 
Casanova. 

In  1780  Charron  was  followed  by  De  Menou,  a  tapestry  manu- 
facturer from  Aubusson,  who  was  able  to  increase  the  number  of 
workmen  from  50  to  120.  Amongst  sets  originated  under  him  were: 
"Pastorale  with  blue  draperies  and  arabesques"  (Plate  VII),  in  ten 
pieces,  after  J.  B.  Huet;  "Military  Scenes,"  in  six  pieces,  after  Casa- 
nova; "Sciences  and  Arts,"  after  Lagrenee.  The  D.  M.  Beauvais, 
on  the  small  tapestry  "Commerce,"  in  the  Decorative  Arts  Wing  of 
the  Metropolitan  Museum,  is  the  signatiu-e  of  De  Menou. 

During  the  French  Revolution,  the  Beauvais  works  was  taken 
over  by  the  French  Government,  for  which  it  now  produces  tapestry 
fin-niture  coverings  on  low-warp  looms,  whilst  the  Gobelins  now  con- 
fines itself  to  wall  tapestries  on  high-warp  looms.  The  City  of  Beauvais 
is  55  miles  north  of  Paris,  and  in  times  of  peace  visitors  are  welcome 
at  the  works  every  week  day  from  12  to  4.    The  Museum  is  interesting. 

THE  MORTLAKE  TAPESTRY  AVORKS 

The  success  of  France  in  attracting  low-warp  weavers  from 
Flanders  to  the  Gobelins,  stirred  England  to  imitation.     A  copy  of 

aoi 


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•  GOBELINS,  BEAUVAIS,  MORTLAKE  TAPESTRIES 

the  royal  edict  of  Henri  IV  was  secured,  and  in  August,  1619,  Sir 
Francis  Crane,  tlie  proprietor  of  the  new  industry,  was  granted  the 
fees  for  the  making  of  three  baronets.  The  importation  of  Flemish 
weavers  was  secretly  arranged  for,  and  in  1620  fifty  had  already 
arrived.  The  manager  of  the  works  was  Philip  de  Maecht,  who  had 
previously  been  manager  of  a  shop  at  the  Gobelins  for  Comans  and 
Planche.  His  monogram  appears  in  the  selvage  of  Early  Gobelin  as 
well  as  of  Mortlake  tapestries.  The  art  director  was  Francis  Cleyn, 
who  had  been  a  student  in  Italy  in  the  service  of  Christian  IV  of 
Denmark,  and  whose  work  was  so  much  appreciated  that  after  the 
accession  of  Charles  I  in  1625  to  the  throne  of  England,  he  was 
granted  a  life  pension  of  100  pounds  a  year. 

The  first  important  set  of  tapestries  woven  at  Mortlake,  begun 
on  September  16,  1620,  and  finished  on  June  5,  1622,  was  the  "Story 
of  Vulcan  and  Venus,"  from  sixteenth  century  cartoons,  in  nine  pieces. 
It  was  made  plain  without  gold,  "except  in  the  piece  of  Apollo  and 
for  the  letters,"  and  cost  Charles  2,000  pounds.  Later,  but  before 
Charles  became  king,  three  sets  of  the  same  tapestry  were  woven  for 
him,  rich  with  gold,  at  .3,000  pounds  apiece.  The  "Vulcan's  Complaint 
to  Jupiter,"  lent  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  by  Mrs.  Von  Zedlitz, 
is  a  piece  from  one  of  the  gold  sets,  and  bears  the  monogram  of 
Charles  in  cartouches  in  the  side  borders,  the  three  feathers  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales  in  the  top  border;  and  in  the  bottom  border  four 
sceptres  crossed  with  a  ribbon  bearing  the  Latin  inscription  Sceptra 
favent  artes,  the  favcnt  being  an  error  for  fovent,  and  the  meaning: 
"Kings  foster  the  arts."  This  tapestry  also  carries  in  the  bottom 
selvage,  now  misapplied  on  the  right,  the  Mortlake  shield  and  the 
monogram  of  Philip  de  Maecht.  The  three  "Vulcan  and  Venus" 
tapestries,  formerly  lent  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  by  Phihp  Hiss, 
belong  to  a  later  set,  without  gold  and  of  smaller  size,  but  having  a 
most  romantic  history.     (See  my  1912  book  on  Tapestries.) 

Another  set  of  Renaissance  cartoons  copied  at  Mortlake  was 
"certayne  drawings  of  Raphaell  of  Urbin,  which  were  desseignes  for 
tapestries  made  for  Pope  Leo  the  X,"  for  which  Prince  Charles 
instructed  Sir  Francis  to  send  to  Genoa.  These  are  the  seven  (out  of 
the  original  set  of  ten)  famous  Raphael  cartoons  now  on  exhibition 
at  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  A  set  of  the  tapestries  woven 
from  them,  rich  with  gold,  is  preserved  in  the  French  National 
collection.    It  is  a  splendid  monument  to  the  skill  of  Mortlake  weavers. 

303 


GOBELINS,  BEAUVAIS,  MQllTLAKE  TAPESTRIES 

The  cartouche  in  the  bottom  border  bears  the  inscription  (Plate  XII) 
Car.  re.  reg.  Mart.,  which,  spelled  out,  is  Carolo  rege  regnante  Mort- 
lake,  and  means  "At  Mortlake  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles." 

Other  famous  sets  woven  at  Mortlake  were:  The  "Naked 
Boyes,"  after  Giulio  Romano;  "Hero  and  Leander,"  after  Francis 
Cleyn;  the  "Horses,"  after  Francis  Cleyn;  the  "Twelve  Months," 
after  Lucas  van  I^eyden.  The  Royal  Swedish  collection  contains  the 
only  set  that  has  been  preserved  of  "Hero  and  Leander."  It  is  rich 
with  gold.  The  "Triumph  of  Julius  Caesar,"  after  the  nine  paintings 
by  Mantegna,  still  preserved  at  Hampton  Court,  appears  to  have  been 
put  on  the  looms  in  tlie  reign  of  Charles  II,  from  cartoons  ordered  by 
Cromwell. 

The  death  of  Sir  Francis  Crane  in  1636,  and  the  troubles  of 
King  Charles,  ended  the  prosperity  of  the  Mortlake  Tapestry  Works, 
which  dragged  out  a  precarious  existence  during  the  rest  of  the 
century,  and  was  finally  dissolved  in  1703.  The  most  successful  man- 
ager during  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  was  Francus 
Poyntz,  whose  signature  appears  in  the  battle  of  "Solebay,"  in  three 
pieces,  in  the  Prince  of  Wales  bedroom  at  Hampton  Court. 

Credit  for  illustrations:  Plate  I,  P.  W.  French  &  Co.;  Plates  II,  III,  IV,  V,  VI,  VTI,  XII. 
the  French  National  Collection;  Plate  \I1I,  the  New  York  Public  l.ihrarv;  Plates  IX,  X,  the 
Kann  Collection. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

TAPESTRY  FURNITURE  COVERINGS 

Of  all  furniture  coverings,  tapestry  is  the  most  durable.  Even 
the  ridiculously  inexpensive  all-cotton  jacquard  imitations,  woven 
like  the  one  illustrated  in  colour  in  Chapter  XII,  or  the  verdures  with- 
out personages,  of  the  same  material  and  weave,  long  outlast  cheap 
damasks  and  brocades  and  twills  and  leathers  and  embroideries,  whilst 
of  the  real  tapestries,  made  by  blocking  in  the  colours  with  a  bobbin, 
without  a  shuttle,  even  those  of  coarsest  texture  like  that  illustrated 
in  Plate  V,  have  such  a  comjjlete  interlocking  of  coarse  hidden  warp 
with  fine  weft,  that  they  resist  rubbing  and  bruising  almost  indefinitely, 
and  do  not  tear  or  ravel  even  when  cut.  Age  and  ordinary  wear 
merely  increase  their  beauty  and  value. 

Unfortunately  for  the  jacquard  imitations,  they  are  less  beautiful 
even  at  the  start.  The  texture  of  the  finer  ones  is  not  ribbed,  but 
is  a  monotonous  surface  of  isolated  points,  which,  as  it  grows  old, 
decreases,  instead  of  increasing,  in  beauty.  The  jacquard  imita- 
tions look  best  when  mounted  on  highly  varnished  or  polished  wooden 
frames ;  they  do  not  look  well  against  weathered  oak,  or  natural  oak, 
or  any  background  that  has  character  in  its  texture.  Their  chief 
mission,  it  seems  to  me,  is  by  contrast  to  emphasise  the  virtues  of 
real  tapestry,  and  make  the  name  familiar. 

Real  tapestry  is  not  cheap.  The  cheapest  that  I  know  of  in  the 
American  market  retailed  at  six  dollars  a  square  foot  before  the  war. 
It  was  designed  by  an  American  maker  to  meet  the  competition  of  the 
cheaper  grades  imported  from  Aubusson,  and  as  the  situation  necessi- 
tates, has  been  simplified  to  the  utmost,  with  only  ten  ribs  to  the  inch, 
and  verdure  pattern  composed  for  ease  of  weaving.  A  delightful  tex- 
ture is  attained,  and  as  the  tapestry  costs  less  even  than  the  imported 
double  warp  shuttle  tapestries,  one  of  which  is  illustrated  on  Plate  V 
of  Chapter  XII,  it  should  supplant  them  for  use  on  furniture,  because 
306 


Plate  I— TAPESTRY  CHAIR  BACK,  RICH  WITH  GOLD 

Made  under  my  own  direction  to  illustrate  tlie  practicability  of  weaving 

today  with  Renaissfince  technique 


307 


Plate  II— SOFA  COVERED  WITH  AXCIENT  FLEMISH   VERDUKE  TAPESTRY 


Plate  III— MILLE-FLKUR  TAPESTRY   COVERINGS 
Made  in  America 


308 


TAPESTRY  FURNITURE  COVERINGS 

it  will  wear  better  on  account  of  its  more  completely  interlocked  weave. 
The  range  of  possible  patterns  is  about  the  same. 

THE  GOBELINS  AND  BEAUVAIS 

The  great  development  of  tapestry  furniture  coverings  took  place 
in  the  eighteenth  century  at  Beauvais,  the  Gobelins  and  Aubusson. 
This  was  coincident  with  the  development  of  furniture  itself,  particu- 
larly of  chairs,  and  with  the  multiplication  of  smaller  pieces  of  every 
conceivable  shape  for  every  conceivable  use.  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
as  in  the  Orient  today,  residences  were  very  scantily  furnished.  The 
chest  was  the  piece  de  resistance,  with  bed  and  dresser  and  chairs  for 
the  master  and  the  mistress,  a  trestle  table  and  a  cupboard  for  the 
main  living  room,  and  benches  and  stools  for  the  lesser  personages. 
During  the  sixteenth  century,  particularly  in  Ita^y,  the  number  of 
chairs  increased,  whilst  in  both  Italy  and  France  two-story  cabinets 
began  to  take  the  place  of  chests.  By  the  seventeenth  century,  case- 
like shapes  for  chairs  had  been  replaced  by  skeletonised  frames,  and 
attached  upholstery  had  become  common. 

In  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  verdure  tapestries  of 
the  Louis  XIV  type,  like  the  one  illustrated  in  Plate  II,  began  to  be 
used  by  upholsterers,  although  still  surpassed  in  popularity  for  chair 
and  cushion  coverings  by  grotesque  (incorrectly  called  arabesque) 
designs  more  or  less  modified  from  their  Italian  Renaissance  (Plate  I) 
and  ancient  Roman  originals.  Of  these  I^ouis  XIV  grotesques,  the 
best  ancient  examples  in  America  are  those  after  Eerain  on  the  sofa 
and  chairs  in  the  Altman  collection  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum. 
These  covers  were  woven  at  Beauvais,  and  the  repeated  and  reversed 
monogram  P.C.  woven  into  the  backs  is  probably  that  of  the  "Grand 
Conde"  who  built  the  Chateau  de  Chantilly,  and  won  the  glorious 
victories  of  Rocroi,  Fribourg,  Nordlingen  and  Lens.  In  the  seats 
appears  the  crowned  double  L,  the  monogram  of  the  King.  Appar- 
ently these  coverings  were  woven  by  order  of  Louis  XIV  as  a  present 
for  Conde.  Of  especial  interest  to  tapestry  lovers  is  the  sofa  design 
that  shows  apes  playing  with  tapestry  yarns  and  bobbins. 

Tapestries  are  especially  helpful  in  teaching  the  details  of"  the 
historical  styles.  The  chair  back  and  seat  on  Plate  IX^  from  part  of 
the  great  Hoentschel  collection  presented  by  Mr.-  Morgan  to  the 
Metropolitan  Museum,  are  one  of  the  most  vivid  definitions  of  Rococo 
I  have  ever  seen.    They  might  have  been  designed,  and  perhaps  were, 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

by  Juste  Aurele  Meissonier  himself.  The  asymmetrical  twists,  and 
naturalistic  forms  and  motifs,  are  splendidly  emphasised  by  the  classic 
architecture  and  vases.  This  is  Rococo  at  its  extreme  and  also  at  its 
best.  It  is  Rococo  like  this  that  appears  in  a  few  of  the  earlier 
plates  of  the  great  Italian  engraver,  Giovanni  Battista  Piranesi,  and 
the  feeling  of  which,  retained  in  his  imagination  and  in  his  fingers, 
warmed  in  later  years  the  details  of  his  wonderful  illustrations  of 
ancient  and  modern  Roman  classic  architecture. 

During  the  past  forty  years  an  incredibly  large  number  of  ancient 
tapestries  have  been  cut  up  for  use  on  furniture,  as  well  as  for  can- 
tonnieres  to  frame  doors  and  windows.  How  Renaissance  panels  and 
borders  of  the  grotesque  type  are  employed  as  screen  panels  is  shown 
by  Plate  XII.  They  are  equally  pleasing  as  seats  and  backs  for 
sofas  and  chairs,  particularly  those  in  the  style  of  the  Italian  Renais- 
sance, and  as  covers  for  tables  and  benches  and  stools  and  sofa  pillows. 
But  they  are  not  inexpensive.  Fine  Renaissance  tapestry  borders 
from  16  to  20  inches  wide  sell  quickly  for  one  hundred  dollars  a 
running  foot,  and  are  steadily  appreciating  in  value.  Even  at  that 
price  it  no  longer  pays  to  mutilate  Renaissance  tapestries  by  detach- 
ing the  border  from  the  picture  panel  inside,  as  was  the  common  prac- 
tice for  many  years.  The  borderless  panels  that  remained  were  then 
panelled  into  the  walls  of  modern  residences,  with  wooden  mouldings 
around.  Now  the  tapestries  are  more  valuable  in  their  complete 
form,  because  we  are  once  again  beginning  to  build  residences  that 
contain  at  least  one  dignified  apartment  large  enough  to  provide  a 
background  for  several  tapestries  of  full  Renaissance  size. 

AUBUSSON 

Since  the  revival  of  interest  in — and  knowledge  of — tapestries 
in  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Aubusson  has  been  the 
centre  of  production  of  tapestry  furniture  coverings  for  the  whole 
world — Russia,  Germany  and  the  Argentine,  as  well  as  England  and 
America.  And  whilst  some  of  the  shops  have  exploited  goods  inferior 
in  structure  and  materials  and  dyes,  as  well  as  in  design,  it  gives  me 
great  pleasure  to  testify  to  the  general  excellence  of  Aubusson  repro- 
ductions of  French  eighteenth  century  furniture  coverings,  particu- 
larly of  those  after  Oudry  and  Boucher.  Plate  VII  illustrates 
the  type  I  mean,  inspired  by  or  copied  from  the  tapestry  seats  and 
backs    illustrating    Lafontaine's    fables,    originated    by    Oudry    for 

310 


TAPESTRY  FURNITURE  COVERINGS 

Beauvais.  No  wonder  they  have  never  lost  their  vogue.  They  are  so 
charming  in  treatment,  and  so  just  in  scale,  that  they  turn  chairs  and 
sofas  into  framed  pictures  of  exquisite  texture,  without  detracting  at 
all  from  their  use  value.  These  modern  Aubusson  tapestry  coverings 
in  the  style  of  the  French  eighteenth  century,  are  usually  sold  in  the 
United  States  on  appropriate  Louis  XV  and  Louis  XVI  frames 
made  in  America. 

The  chair  illustrated  on  Plate  XI  bears  the  name  of  Thomas 
Thierry,  the  famous  French  historian,  because  the  original  set  of 
tapestry  covers  was  presented  to  him  by  the  French  govermnent  in 
appreciation  of  his  historical  researches  and  publications.  The  covers 
were  first  mounted  about  1870  when  the  frames,  in  the  style  of  the 
Regence,  were  designed  and  made.  The  original  set,  now  in  the 
Louvre,  consists  of  a  sofa  and  eight  arm-chairs. 

Ancient  tapestry  coverings  woven  in  the  eighteenth  century  at 
Aubusson,  such  as  those  shown  on  Plates  VIII  and  X,  have  the 
texture  characteristic  of  Aubusson  at  that  period — loose  weave  with 
luminous  background ;  and  they  are  splendidly  preserved.  The  Louis 
XVI  coverings  on  Plate  X  are  part  of  the  "Greek  drapery  set"  con- 
sisting of  five  wall  tapestries  with  tapestry  rug  and  furniture  cover- 
ings to  match.  One  of  the  wall  tapestries  is  illustrated  on  Plate  VII 
of  Chapter  XII. 

The  success  of  Aubusson  in  the  eighteenth  century  was  directly 
dependent  upon  that  of  Beauvais.  As  I  wrote  in  Chapter  XII, 
designs  and  cartoons,  together  with  a  painter  and  a  dyer,  were  sent 
fi'om  Beauvais  to  Aubusson  in  1731.  The  painter  was  Jean  Joseph 
Dumons  who,  during  the  Regence,  had  been  one  of  the  three  designers 
at  Beauvais  of  a  Chinese  set  of  wall  tapestries,  one  of  which  appro- 
priately serves  as  the  background  of  Plate  VIII.  That  tapestry  fur- 
niture coverings  picturing  Chinese  life,  like  those  shown  on  the  sofa  in 
Plate  VIII,  should  have  been  woven,  perhaps  under  his  direction  and 
from  his  cartoons  at  Aubusson  as  one  result  of  his  work  there,  is  only 
natural. 

Of  the  tapestry  furnitiu'e  coverings  woven  in  America  since  the 
industry  was  established  here  in  1893,  most  have  been  in  the  style  of 
the  French  eighteenth  century,  which  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  when 
we  recall  that  the  weavers  and  the  superintendent  of  the  works  came 
originally  from  Aubusson.  The  majority  of  these  American-made 
furniture  coverings  are  of  high  quality.     Indeed,  the  set  of  chair  and 

313 


Plate  VIII— LOUIS  XV  ANCIENT  TAPKSTKY  COVKKINGS 
Made  at  Aubussnn 


314 


TAPESTRY  FURNITUim  COVERINGS 

sofa  coverings  woven  for  the  drawing  room  of  the  late  J.  Pierpont 
Morgan  compai'es  well  with' any  woven  anywhere  in  the  last  century 
and  a  half. 

MODKKX    CHAHt   BACK   IN    ANCIENT   TEXTUKK 

iVs  regards  the  future  of  tapestry  furniture  covefings,  and  also 
of  wall  tapestries  in  America,  I  believe  that  it  depends  upon  a  return 
to  more  ancient  traditions  and  styles  of  weaving.  What  I  mean  is 
illustrated  by  Plate  I.  In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries, 
designers  and  weavers  co-operated  to  produce  tapestries  that  were 
distinguished  for  the  ([ualities  that  differentiate  tapestries  from  paint- 
ings, rather  than  for  the  qualities  that  tapestries  share  with  paintings. 
In  those  centuries  the  possibility  of  producing  extreme  contrasts  by 
means  of  horizontal  ribs  and  vertical  hatchings  was  taken  advantage 
of  to  the  utmost,  and  as  a  result  Gothic  and  Renaissance  tapestries 
have  a  texture  totally  unlike  the  texture  of  tapestries  of  the  eighteenth 
cenfiu-y,  when  paint  effects  were  imitated  and  the  highest  praise  went 
to  the  weaver  who  reproduced  the  cartoon  most  exactly  in  all  its 
paint  values. 

The  chair  back  on  Plate  I,  with  background  of  gold  in  basket 
weave,  was  made  under  my  direction  to  illustrate  the  practicability 
of  weaving  today  with  Renaissance  techni(iue.  Ribs  and  hatchings 
were  used  to  accentuate  the  folds  of  the  robe,  and  hatchings  were 
emploj-ed  to  "mix  colours  on  the  loom"  in  precisely  the  same  manner 
as  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  design  is  reproduced  from  one  of 
Giulio  Romano's  borders  for  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  set  in  the  Royal 
Spanish  collection. 

GOLD  IN  TAPKSTRIES 

At  this  point  I  should  like  to  answer  a  question  that  is  often 
asked  by  the  members  of  my  lecture  promenades  at  the  Metropolitan 
Museum:  "Is  this  gold,  real  gold?"  It  is,  but  real  gold  in  very  small 
quantity.  The  gold  threads  used  are  not  gold  wire  or  even  wire 
plated  with  gold;  they  are  yellow  silk  threads  wound  around  with 
gold  tinsel,  and  the  effect  when  tlie  tinsel  breaks  away  in  tiny  points 
from  the  silk  underneath  is  exceedingly  pleasing,  much  more  so  than 
when  the  surface  still  remains  all  shine  and  sheen  of  gold.  The  gold 
thread  of  ancient  Renaissance  tapestries  has  come  down  to  us  in  very 
good  condition  as  a  I'ule,  but  the  gold  thread  of  the  seventeenth 
century — particularly  that  used  at  Mortlake — is  usually  tarnished, 

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TAPESTRY  FURNITURE  COVERINGS 

with  little  or  none  of  the  gold  left.  I  fear  that  sometimes  the  silver 
rihbon  used  as  a  base  got  its  golden  yellow  not  from  the  king  of  metals, 
but  like  illuminated  leathers,  from  yellow  lacquer  (see  Chapter  XX). 
The  base  used  for  the  tinsel  today  is  copper,  that  grows  old  more 
gracefully.  If  I  had  my  way  I  would  introduce  gold  into  all  except 
the  very  coarsest  tapestries,  so  much  do  I  admire  the  effect  of  its  con- 
trast with  the  roses  and  blues  in  silk,  and  the  flesh  colours  in  wool. 

VERDURES 

Amongst  the  most  interesting  tapestries  ever  woven  are  the  Late 
Gothic  mille  fieurs  that  inspired  so  many  of  the  tapestries  designed  by 
Burne-Jones  and  Morris,  and  made  in  England  at  Merton  near 
London  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  One  of  these 
English  tapestries  is  illustrated  on  Plate  IX  of  Chapter  XII.  How 
two  American  makers  have  adapted  Late  Gothic  mille-fleurs  for  use 
as  furniture  coverings  is  illustrated  by  Plates  III  and  XIII.  The 
coverings  in  the  former  are  based  on  a  wall  tapestry  belonging  to  the 
late  Alexander  W.  Drake.  The  coverings  in  the  latter  are  from  a 
wall  tapestry  in  the  museum  at  the  Gobelins.  The  chair  back  in  the 
former,  which  would  be  described  as  "mille  fleur  with  birds,"  shows 
a  crane  supine  beneath  a  falcon.  The  sofa  back  in  the  latter,  which 
would  be  described  as  a  "mille  fleur  with  personages,"  presents  a 
garden  party  with  a  lady  at  the  tiny  organ  upon  the  curb  of  the  foun- 
tain, whilst  a  youth  picks  the  mandolin.  Mille-fleur  coverings  are  suit- 
able for  Late  Gothic  and  Early  Renaissance  frames,  being  flat  in 
drawing  and  having  the  ground  covered  with  tiny  leaves  and  flowers 
(whence  their  name,  mille-fleur  or  thousand-flower  tapestries). 

Very  different  are  these  Gothic  verdures  from  those  that  were 
developed  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  flourished 
through  the  eighteenth,  like  the  coverings  illustrated  on  Plate  II. 
The  latter  are  distinctly  paint  style,  relying  for  their  principal  effects 
upon  contrasts  of  light  and  shade,  with  line  and  colour  both  weak. 

Examples  of  verdure  tapestries  executed  in  England  at  the 
Mortlake  works  near  London  in  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  are  the  coverings  of  the  Charles  II  sofa,  chair  and  stool  of 
Plate  VI  which  are  to  be  seen  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum 
at  South  Kensington.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  details  of  these 
English  seventeenth  century  weaves  are  larger  in  scale  than  are  the 
details  in  the  Gothic  mille-fleurs,  and  the  eighteenth  century  verdures. 

317 


/ 


#\ 


rialu  XII— SCKEEX  PAXKLLED  WITH  ANCIENT  BRUSSELS  RENAISSANCE  TAPESTRY 

318 


TAPESTKV  FURNITURE  COVERINGS 

AMERICAN  INNOVATIONS 

With  the  tapestries  from  American  looms,  illustrated  on  Plates 
IV  and  XIV,  I  am  especially  jjleased.  They  take  their  inspiration 
from  Old  English  needlework,  but  in  such  a  way  as  to  produce  the 
charm  of  innovation  rather  than  the  suggestion  of  imitation.  With- 
out losing  the  fascinating  character  of  tapestry  texture,  they  have 
introduced  variety  and  special  interest  into  it  by  the  addition  of  some 
of  the  qualities  found  in  ancient  needlework.  From  the  texture  point 
of  view,  they  are  delightful,  and  constitute  an  important  addition  to 
tapestry  technique.  From  the  commercial  point  of  view  they  are  a 
success,  selling  for  a  little  over  half  the  cost  of  modern  needlework 
of  the  same  fineness,  and  being  mucli  more  durable.  Especially  do  I 
admire  the  chair  seat  on  Plate  IV. 

An  especial  interest  attaches  to  the  coverings  on  the  Chinese 
Chippendale  sofa  of  Plate  XIV,  because  they  were  designed  to  meet 
an  actual  condition.  The  American  maker  of  the  frame  wanted 
upholstery  more  ajipropriate  than  anything  he  had  been  able  to  pro- 
cure, and  admits  that  he  got  it.  The  fact  that  many  individuals  will 
mistake  this  tapestry  for  needlework  is  no  argument  against  it.  They 
are  the  same  persons  who  now  mistake  needlework  for  tajjestry. 
Besides,  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  so-called  jjctit  points  were  in  their 
origin  merely  imitations  of  woven  tapestries. 

The  obvious  difference  between  the  two  is  in  the  surface  texture, 
that  consists  of  ribs  in  woven  tapestry  and  of  points  in  needlework 
tapestry.  Also,  in  needlework  tapestry  the  background  is  often  in 
coarse  point  (gros  point)  while  the  faces  and  hands  and  other  parts 
of  the  figures  are  in  fine  point  (petit  point),  an  effect  that  has 
recently  been  for  the  first  time  imitated  in  real  tapestry,  and  by  an 
American  maker  who  uses  fine  warps  doubled  for  the  background, 
and  single  where  the  petit  points  come.  Furthermore,  while  the  lines 
of  the  surface  of  woven  tapestry  run  only  one  way  ( with  the  warp ) , 
those  of  the  surface  of  needlework  tapestry  run  both  ways  (with  the 
weft,  as  well  as  with  the  warp ) ,  and  are  less  pronounced.  The  basis 
or  starting  point  of  needlework  tapestry  is  coarse  canvas  or  etamine 
or  buratto  or  some  similar  hard-spun  fabric  in  loose  texture, 

MODERN  DYES 

I  am  often  asked  about  the  dyes  of  modern  tapestries.  Are  they 
vegetable  or  aniline,  and  will  they  last  as  well  as  the  old  ones? 

319 


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Plate  XIII— MILLE-FLEUR  TAPESTRY  COVERINGS 

Made  in  America 


PLATE  XIV— MODERN  TAPESTRY-COVERED  SOFA 
Made  in  America 


330 


TAPESTRY  FURNITURE  COVERINGS 

I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  answer  that  ncarlij  all  of  the  nioderii  establish- 
ments weaving  tapestries  use  exclusively  the  same  dye  materials  as 
were  used  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  compound  them  in  the  same 
manner  as  they  were  compounded  in  the  sixteenth  century.  For  illus- 
tration of  these  materials,  see  page  253  of  my  book  on  Tapestries. 
Tapestries,  the  wool  of  which  has  been  properly  washed — with  enough 
of  the  lanolin  left  in  to  keep  it  alive — and  the  wool  and  silk  of  which 
have  been  skilfully  dyed  with  these  vegetable  dyes,  are  just  as  per- 
manent in  colour  as  ancient  Gothic  and  Renaissance  tapestries,  and 
much  more  permanent  than  most  of  those  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  many  of  those  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Tapestries  of  wool  or 
silk  that  have  been  dyed  with  aniline  dyes  are  not  worth  house  room. 
Any  tapestry  maker  who  admits  the  use  of  anilines  in  his  work  should 
be  avoided. 

MODERN  CARTOONS 

Another  point  with  regard  to  the  weaving  of  modern  tapestries 
for  either  furniture  coverings  or  wall  panels:  The  taste  of  the  cus- 
tomer, be  he  dealer  or  individual,  or  painter  or  architect,  should  never 
be  consulted  with  regard  to  the  full-size  coloured  cartoons.  His 
opportunity  for  criticism  should  be  confined  to  the  original  small 
colour  sketch  (petit  patron),  and  to  the  finished  tapestry.  The  grand 
patron  he  should  never  see,  for  he  will  not  understand  this  technical 
tapestry  pattern  any  more  than  he  would  understand  a  dress  pattern, 
and  by  insisting  on  paint  qualities  in  the  cartoon,  and  on  having  the 
weaver  copy  the  cartoon  exactly,  he  will  prevent  the  production  of  a 
tapestry  tapestry. 

Credit  for  illustrations:  Plates  I,  III,  XII,  Wm.  Baumgarten  &  Co.;  Plates  II,  VIII,  X, 
P.  W.  French  &  Co.;  Plates  I\',  \,  XIA',  the  Edgewater  Tapestry  Looms;  Plate  VI,  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum;  Plates  VII,  XI,  the  Palmer  &  Embury  Mfg.  Co.;  Plate  IX, 
the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art;  Plate  XIII,  Pettier  &  Stymus. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

CHINTZES  AND  CRETONNES 

Chintz  is  the  English  word,  cretonne  the  French  word,  for  drapeiy 
prints.  Consequently,  when  the  two  words  are  used  side  by  side,  we 
are  apt  to  find  the  English  prints,  particularly  those  of  many  colours, 
fine  texture  and  small  floral  designs,  called  chintzes,  whilst  the  French 
prints  of  larger  design  on  heavier  cloth  are  called  cretonnes.  The 
chintzes  used  in  England  are  often  glazed,  but  the  difficulty  of  having 
them  freshened  by  re-glazing  in  America,  has  prevented  glazed 
chintzes  from  becoming  popular  here. 

The  French  word  cretonne  is  said  to  be  derived  from  the  Norman 
village  of  Creton,  which  was  once  famous  for  the  weaving  of  drapery 
cloths.  However,  the  term  commonly  used  in  France  in  the  eighteenth 
century  for  French  prints  as  well  as  for  the  Oriental  ones  that  they 
imitated,  was  indiennes  or  persiennes  ( Indians  or  Persians ) .  The 
English  word  chintz  is  already  a  plural,  though  now  through  long 
error  used  as  singular.  The  original  singular  was  chint,  as  illustrated 
by  Pepys  in  his  famous  diary  under  date  of  Sejitember  5,  1663: 
"Bought  my  wife  a  chint,  that  is  a  painted  Indian  calico,  for  to  line 
her  study."  The  word  is  Hindoo,  derived  from  the  Sanscrit  chitra, 
meaning  "many-coloured."  Murray's  great  dictionary  defines  chintz 
as  "Originally,  name  of  painted  or  stained  calicoes  imported  from 
India;  now,  cotton  cloths  fast  printed  with  designs  of  flowers,  etc., 
generally  not  less  than  five  colours  and  usually  glazed." 

While  both  the  French  and  the  English  cloth  prints  of  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries  were  imitations  of  the  Oriental 
product,  the  process  of  making  was  entirely  diff'erent.  In  India  the 
patterns  were  painted  or  pencilled  on,  in  the  form  of  direct  colours  or 
resists,  or  mordants,  while  in  France  and  England  blocks  of  wood  or 
flat  plates  of  copper  were  used — the  wood  blocks  carved  in  relief,  and 
the  copper-plates  in  intaglio  like  those  that  produce  modern  engraved 

322 


Plate  I— HAND-PAINTED  COTTON   OF   THK   SKVENTKKNTH  CENTURY  KKOM   A.MBKU,  INDIA 

Fn>m  the  Hrooklvii   Miist'iim  collection 


323 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

visiting  cards.  The  copper  plates  were  used  for  printing  on  silk 
(Plate  XXX),  and  for  the  finer  and  more  intricate  designs  on  linen 
or  cotton. 

Both  of  these  pi'ocesses,  though  undoubtedly  known  and  occa- 
sionally practised  in  China  for  centuries  before,  were  fully  devel- 
oped only  in  Europe,  and  in  the  eighteenth  century,  to  imitate 
the  Oriental  "painted  calicoes."  The  memory  of  this  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  French  word  for  wall  papers  (papiers  peints),  as  well 
as  in  a  phrase  often  used  for  printed  cloths  (toiles  peiyites).  Cloths 
were,  for  the  most  part,  painted  in  India  and  Persia  and  China;  but 
in  France  and  England  and  Germany  they  were  printed  from  blocks, 
thus  illustrating  the  tendency  in  Europe  to  substitute  mechanical 
processes  whenever  possible  for  the  hand  work  of  Asia.  Furthermore, 
if  we  classify  the  various  arts  according  to  their  origin  and  develop- 
ment, we  shall  be  obliged  to  admit  that  printing  is,  after  all,  merely 
a  mechanical  block  method  of  painting  or  drawing  or  writing, 

PLINY  ON  CHINTZ 

Very  properly  did  Pliny,  writing  in  the  first  century  A.  C,  in 
book  35  of  his  Natural  History,  classify  Egyptian  chintzes  under 
painting.    He  describes  them  as  follows: 

Pingiint  et  vestes  in  /Egypto  inter  pauca  mirahili  genere,  Candida 
vela  postquam  adtrivere  illinentes  non  coloribus,  sed  colorem  sorbent- 
ibus  medicamentis.  Hoc  cum  fecere,  non  adparet  in  velis:  sed  in 
cortinam  pigmenti  ferventis  mersa,  post  momentum,  extrahuntur  picta. 
Mirumque,  cum  sit  unus  in  cortina  colos,  ex  illo  alius  atque  alius  fit  in 
veste,  accipientis  medicamenti  qualitate  mutatus.  Nee  liostea  ablui 
potest:  et  cortina  non  dubie  confusura  color es,  si  pictos  acciperet, 
digerit  ex  uno,  pinguitque  dum  coquit.  Et  adustcc  vestes  firmiores 
fiunt  quam  si  non  urerentur. 

"They  also  paint  clothing  in  Egypt  in  a  manner  extraordinarily 
marvellous.  After  they  have  finished  the  cloth  white,  they  line  it  not 
with  colours,  but  with  mordants  that  absorb  coloin-s.  When  this  is 
done,  it  is  not  apparent  on  the  cloth;  but  when  the  cloth  is  dipped  in 
the  dye  pot,  after  a  moment  it  comes  out  painted.  And  the  strange 
part  is  that  although  there  is  only  one  coloiu*  in  the  pot,  that  colour 
produces  several  on  the  cloth,  varying  according  to  the  quality  of  the 
mordant  that  it  receives.  Nor  can  it  afterwards  be  washed  out.  So 
the  dye  pot,  that  would  undoubtedly  blend  the  colours  together,  if  it 

324  ,, 


Plate  II— HAND-PAIXTKD  COTTON'  OF  THK  SKVKNTEEXTH  CENTURY   EKOM  AMBER,  INDIA 

From  the  Brooklyn  Museum  collection 


325 


Plato  HI— GOTHIC  ANTEPENDIUM   (A1.TAR  FRONTAL)    PRINTED  IN   BLACK 

FROM  NINE  BLOCKS 

Showing  Christ,  Saint  Barbara,  Saint  George,  Mary  and  John,  with  Gothic  inscription  and 
ornamental  border.     Tvrolian  of  the  fifteenth  century 


Plate  IV— COTTON'  PRINTS  OF  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY  A.  D.   FROM   EGYPT 

At  Achmin  have  l)een  foiuul  two  of  the  tiny  wooden  blocks  from  which  sudi  dotlis  were  printed, 

one  of  them  showing  two  peacocks  facing  a  tree;  the  other,  a  spool  with  pattern 

on  eacli  end,  I  i/o  inches  high  with  diameter  of  1  3/5  inches. 


I'hitc  V     THIRTF.KNTH  OR  FOURTEENTH  CENTURY  PRINTED  LINEN  IN  BLACK 

From  Cologne 


Plate    VI     ROMANESQl'E,    TWELFTH    OR    THIR-       Plate  VII— GOTHIC    WALL    HANGING    PRINTED 

TEENTH  CENTURY,  IN  SILVER  ON  BLUE  LINEN  IN  THREE  COLOURS 

From  the  lower  Rhine  French-Flemish  of  the  fifteenth  century 

327 


Plate  VllI— PART  OF  AX   ITALIAN"    FOUUTKENTII   CKXTURY   WALL   HAXGIXG 
Three  feet  high,  in  lilack  and  red  on  linen.     In  the  u])per  row  are  men  and  women  dancing;  in  the  middle 
row,  knights  and  Saracens  fighting;  in  the  lower  row,  the  story  of  ffidipus  (Edip)  whose  ankles  are  pierced 
by  the  king's  servants  (Famvliere),  and  who,  when  exposed  for  death,  is  rescued  hv  King  Polypos  (Polipvs). 


Plate    IX— RHENISH    SIXTEENTH   CENTURY 
PRINT 

In  black  on  white  linen 


Plate  X— CHALICE  COVER  IN  BLACK  ON 

WHITE  LINEN 

With  I.  H.  S.  (Latin  initials  for  Jesus  Saviour  of  Men 

and  the  date,  1606,  Germany 


328 


Plate  XI— EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  PERSIAN  PAINTED  PANEL  ON  I.INEN 

34  X  51   Inches 


339 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

received  them  already  painted,  selects  them  from  one  single  colour  and 
paints  while  it  boils.  And  the  dyed  cloths  are  firmer  than  if  they 
were  not  dyed." 

CHINTZES  FROM  INDIA 

Fifteen  centui'ies  later  "painted  cloths"  (Plates  I,  II,  XI,  XII, 
XIII)  were  introduced  into  Europe  from  India  by  the  several  East 
India  companies.  The  first  in  the  field  were  the  Portuguese  who  dis- 
covered the  way  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  1498,  and  thus 
cajitured  much  of  the  trade  that  had  previously  been  handled  by  the 
Venetians  and  the  Genoese  via  the  Persian  Gulf,  Busra,  Bagdad, 
Aleppo  and  Beyrout.  In  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  Bruges 
was  the  distributing  centre  for  northern  Europe,  succeeded  in  the  last 
half  of  the  fifteenth  by  Antwerp,  and  towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
by  Amsterdam.  In  the  seventeenth  century,  with  the  organisation  of 
the  Dutch  and  London  East  India  companies,  and  later,  in  1664,  of 
the  French  East  India  Company,  the  Portuguese  lost  their  monopoly 
and  there  was  a  lively  contest  between  the  different  nations  for  control 
of  the  Oriental  trade. 

In  1693,  Dr.  Havart,  a  Dutch  botanist,  long  resident  in  India, 
remarked:  "The  painting  of  chintzes  proceeds  in  the  most  leisurely 
manner  in  the  world,  in  a  manner  similar  to  the  crawling  of  snails, 
which  appear  to  make  no  headway.  Anyone  who  would  represent 
patience  and  had  no  other  model,  could  use  one  of  the  chintz  painters 
of  Palicol." 

In  1742,  Father  Coeurdoux,  a  Jesuit  missionary  resident  at 
Pondicherry,  wrote  home  to  Europe: 

"The  painter  or  artist,  having  prepared  his  design  upon  paper, 
next  has  to  transfer  it  on  to  the  cloth.  He  begins  by  pricking  the  main 
outlines  of  the  design  with  a  fine  needle,  then  lays  his  paper  on  the 
cloth  and  passes  over  it  a  jjad  containing  charcoal  powder  which,  pene- 
trating tlirough  the  pricked  holes,  by  this  means  transfers  the  main 
features  of  the  design  on  to  the  cloth."  He  then  continues  as  follows 
(abbreviated) : 

(1)  Black.  First,  black  made  from  iron  filings  is  pencilled  in 
over  the  charcoal  tracing  and  made  to  set  fast  with  boiling  water. 

(2)  Blue.  Next  a  wax  resist  is  painted  over  the  parts  where  blues 
or  greens  are  not  to  appear  and  the  cloth  is  sent  to  the  indigo  dyer. 

(3)  Red.    Next  a  wax  resist  is  pencilled  in  where  white  tracery  is  to 

330 


Plate  XII— HAXD-PAINTED  COTTON  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  FROM 

INDIA,  USED  FOR  COVERING  WAI.I.S  AND  CEILINGS 

From  the  Rrooklyn  Museum  collection 


331 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

appear  over  reds,  pinks  or  lilacs;  and  i"ed,  pink  and  lilac  mordants 
are  applied  by  painting  or  pencilling  in  the  manner  described  by  Pliny 
seventeen  hundred  years  before.  The  places  on  the  cloth  for  the  reds 
are  painted  with  a  stronger  emulsion  of  alum  than  the  places  for  the 
pinks,  whilst  the  violets  have  a  mixture  of  alum  and  iron  liquor.  Then 
the  red  dye  pot  develops  the  reds  just  as  it  did  in  the  days  of  Pliny. 
(4)  Yellow.  Finally,  the  yellow  is  applied  direct,  being  painted  over 
the  places  where  yellow  is  required,  and  also  where  the  blue  is  to  be 
turned  green.  At  this  point,  it  should  be  explained  that  the  Indian 
pencils  (more  properly  called  pens)  are  made  of  bamboo,  sharpened 
and  split  at  the  end. 

I  agree  with  the  English  manufacturer  and  authority  on  painted 
and  printed  cloths,  George  Percival  Baker,  that  no  modern  method 
of  printing  in  direct  colours  can  produce  results  so  fine,  so  solid  and 
so  beautiful  as  have  been  achieved  by  the  ancient  Egy])tian  and  Indian 
process  of  "dye-painting." 

IN  THE  WEST 

Not  long  after  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  cloth 
printing  industry  began  to  develop  in  England.  In  1677  Sir  Josiah 
Child,  a  director  of  the  London  East  India  Company,  states  that 
goods  in  the  grey  were  then  coming  from  India  to  be  printed  on  in 
imitation  of  Indian  chintzes.  In  1700  the  importation  of  the  real 
article  from  India  was  prohibited  by  l*arliament  in  order  to  protect 
and  encourage  the  home  manufacturer.  In  France  not  only  the 
imported  but  also  the  domestic  indiennes  were  prohil)ited  until  1759, 
so  that  the  development  of  French  printing  on  linens  and  cottons  only 
became  important  then. 

Pliny's  is  not  the  only  evidence  as  to  the  early  use  of  painted 
cloths  in  the  Mediterranean  countries.  Herodotus  says  that  the 
Caucasians  wore  garments  into  which  representations  of  animals  had 
been  dyed  so  as  to  be  tub-fast.  Fragments  of  cloth  from  Achmim,  in 
Egypt,  about  three  centuries  later  than  Phny,  show  patterns  and 
figure  subjects  stamped  from  blocks  (Plate  IV).  Especially  inter- 
esting is  a  block-printed  cotton  from  the  grave  of  Bishop  Ca>sarius, 
who  was  buried  at  Aries,  near  Marseilles,  A.  D.  543.  An  especially 
important  fragment  is  that  found  in  an  ancient  tomb  at  Quedlim- 
burg,  in  Germany,  which  Dr.  Lessing  called  Sassanid-Persian  of  the 
sixth  or  seventh  century. 

332 


mm¥mm 


o 


D 

ao  g 

i.  ~  c 

X;m 

?^ 


!« 
?? 


X 


?*    **   ?*    **t    *♦    *»    <»'* 


(1) 


«'»  o  • 


o   a  o  o  •  o  o  o  •  ©^  .0  0  o  :e  < 


(1),  (2)  Copying  closely  the  effects  of  Indian  painted  cloths 


Moorish  mixed  with  Classic 


Plate  XIV— ANCIENT  PORTUGUESE 

334 


(4)  Pomegranate  pattern  in  reds 
BLOCK  PRINTS 


CHINTZES  AND  CRETONNES 

GERMAN  AND  ITALIAN 

According  to  Dr.  Forrer  of  Strasburg,  whose  two  books  in  Ger- 
man on  Fabric  Prints  are  the  most  important  pubHshed,  the  art  of 
ornamental  block  cutting  was  developed  in  mediasval  Rhenish 
monasteries.  The  initial  letters  of  thirteenth  century  manuscripts 
sometimes  had  their  outlines  stamped  from  blocks.  German  docu- 
ments of  the  foiH-teenth  century  bear  the  names  of  block  cutters  and 
cloth  printers  as  witnesses.  From  the  eleventh  century  on,  the  rich 
damasks  and  brocades  and  figured  velvets  of  Sicily,.  Byzantium  and 
Italy  were  imitated  ia  German  block  prints  on  linen,  the  earlier  ones 
with  free  use  of  gold  and  silver  (Plates  III,  VI,  X).  The  printing 
of  textiles  in  Europe  precedes  by  several  centuries  the  printing  of 
books.  (A  French-Flemish  colour  print  of  the  fifteenth  century  is 
illustrated  on  Plate  VI ) .  In  the  seventeenth  century  Augsburg  was 
famous  for  linens  printed  largely  in  ancient  patterns  and  in  the  ancient 
Rhenish  manner,  and  supplied  many  craftsmen  for  the  development 
of  cloth  printing  in  Alsace  and  in  Switzerland,  as  Alsace  and  Switzer- 
land did  later  to  France. 

However,  the  oldest  written  instructions  on  the  block  printing  of 
cloth  are  not  German  but  Italian  (Plate  VIII)  and  are  contained  in 
Chapter  173  of  Cennino  Cennini's  late  fourteenth  century  "Treatise 
on  Painting/'  There  Cennini  describes  the  engraving  of  intaglio 
wooden  blocks  for  printing  in  black  the  outline  of  the  pattern  that  is 
to  be  coloured  up  later  with  the  brush.  He  heads  the  chapter  with: 
"The  way  to  execute  paintings  on  cloth  with  the  block,"  and  begins 
it  with:  "Because  to  the  art  of  the  brush  there  still  belong  certain 
works  painted  on  linen  cloth,  which  are  good  for  boys'  and  children's 
robes  and  certain  church  pulpits,  here  is  given  the  way  to  execute 
them." 

Also  interesting  are  the  directions  for  block  printing  given  in  a 
fifteenth  century  German  manuscript  preserved  in  the  public  library 
of  Nuremberg  and  evidently  based  on  nuich  earlier  treatises.  The 
manuscript  was  originally  preserved  in  the  Convent  of  Saint  Catherine 
in  Niiremberg,  and  in  the  sixteenth  century,  as  the  dedication  shows, 
was  presented  by  the  Prioress  of  the  convent  to  one  of  the  Sisters. 
The  book  is  in  three  parts,  the  first  dealing  with  church  vestments, 
the  third  with  stained  glass  and  the  second  with  the  "printing  silver 
and  gold  and  of  wool  and  of  all  colours,  and  how  one  prints  pictures 
of  paper." 

335 


o 


"3  „ 


3 


CHINTZES  AND  CRETONNES 

JOUY  PRINTS 

In  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  as  soon  as  the  govern- 
ment restrictions  were  removed,  France  (Plate  XXV)  quickly 
equalled  and  surpassed  all  that  had  been  done  before.  The  leader  in 
the  new  industry  was  the  famous  Philip  Oberkampf ,  born  in  Ansbach 
in  1738.  His  father  practised  cloth  printing  and  dyeing  rather  unsuc- 
cessfully in  several  parts  of  Germany,  and  finally  settled  down  in 
Aargau,  Switzerland.  The  son  was  trained  in  his  father's  business 
and  after  having  also  had  some  experience  with  Kochlin  and  Dollfus 
at  Miilhausen,  in  Alsace,  went  to  Paris  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  had  him- 
self naturalised,  and  in  1758  or  1759  set  up  a  small  workshop  in  the 
little  village  of  Jouy  near  Versailles.  As  his  entire  resources  were 
not  over  600  livres,  the  whole-  equipment  was  necessarily  exceedingly 
primitive. 

Oberkampf  himself  built  the  printing  tables,  designed  the  pat- 
terns, cut  them  on  wood  and  personally  looked  after  the  printing  as 
well  as  the  dyeing  and  all  the  other  details.  His  success  was  almost 
mimediate  and  before  long  his  printed  cloths  (Plates  XV,  XVI, 
XVII)  attained  such  vogue  as  to  be  especially  mentioned  in  auction 
catalogues,  such  as  that  of  M.  Parseval  in  1782,  "un  meuble  de  salon 
d'ete  en  toile  de  Jouy,"  or  that  of  Sieur  Larsonnier,  "lits  de  toile  de 
Jouy."  In  1783,  Oberkampf  had  the  honour  of  receiving  a  formal 
visit  from  Louis  XVI,  who  spoke  in  high  terms  of  his  goods  and  his 
enterprise,  ennobled  him  and  raised  his  establishment  to  "Manufac- 
ture Royale."  (See  the  signature  of  the  fabric  illustrated  on  Plate 
XV,  "580"  being  the  number  of  the  pattern;  Les  Colomhes,  "the 
Doves,"  the  name  of  the  pattern;  and  P.  N.  G.  the  man  who  did  the 
actual  printing.) 

From  that  time  on,  Jouy  prints  were  the  vogue  not  only  at  court 
and  in  the  palaces  of  the  nobles,  but  also  in  the  houses  of  the  rich 
middle  class.  The  sales  and  the  profits  were  immense.  The  number 
of  employees  reached  1,500.  Oberkampf  gave  them  their  own  houses, 
hospitals  and  old  age  pensions,  and  looked  after  their  interests  in 
every  way.  Constantlj-  the  quality  of  the  product  improved  and  soon 
outclassed  the  German,  Alsatian  and  English  prints.  Oberkampf 
shrank  from  no  expense  to  improve  his  processes.  He  sent  agents 
everywhere,  even  to  the  Orient,  in  order  to  discover  the  secrets  of  the 
brilliant  colours  of  India  and  Persia.  In  1806  he  received  a  gold 
medal  at  the  Paris  Exposition. 

337 


Plate  XVI— JOUY  COPPER  PRINT  IN  RED 

Made  about  1785,  and  signed  "Manufacture  Royale  de  S.  M.  P.  Oberkanipf,"  jjioturing 

Oberkampf  s  factory,  together  with  the  processes  of  plate  and  roller  printing 


Plate  XVII— A  JOUY  PRINT,  THE  UNITED  STATES  RECEIVED  AMONG 

THE  NATIONS 


338 


Plate  XVin— THREE  HUET  DESIGNS  EOK  Jt)lY  PKINTS 

339 


Plate  XIX— THK  FOLK  SEASON'S 
From  a  copper-plate  engraving  of  one  of  Huet's  designs  for  Jouy  prints 


340 


Plate  XX— AX  ANCIENT  CIIINJ'Z  U.I.ISTHATIXG  THK  DKCI.AUATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE 

341 


y. 


'A 


5 


X 


«        Oh 


CHINTZES  AND  CRETONNES 

Napoleon  is  said  to  have  consulted  him  frequently  and  to  have 
called  him  "Seigneur  de  Jouy."  Once  when  NaiK)leon  was  visiting 
Oberkampf's  factory,  he  is  said  to  have  asked  him  if  he  had  yet 
received  the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honom*.  When  Oberkanipf 
answered  "No,"  Napoleon  took  the  one  on  his  own  breast  and  gave 
it  to  Oberkanipf,  saying:  "No  one  deserves  to  wear  it  more  than 
you.  You  and  I  are  fighting  a  good  fight  against  the  English,  but 
your  fight  is  the  best."  Both  men  had  risen  high  from  small  begin- 
nings and  both  fell  together. 

In  1815,  when  the  army  of  the  Allies  passed  through  Jouy,  they 
pillaged  and  destroyed  the  magnificent  factory.  "This  sight  is  kill- 
ing me,"  said  the  grey-haired  Oberkampf,  as  he  gazed  upon  his  idle 
and  starving  men.  His  health  broke  down  and  on  the  fourteenth 
of  October,  181.5,  he  died. 

Oberkampf's  establishment  served  as  a  model  for  later  ones.  In 
178.5,  he  was  the  first  to  introduce  roller  printing  on  the  Continent, 
assisted  by  a  mechanic  who  came  from  Great  Britain,  where  the 
process  had  been  invented  by  a  Scotchman  named  Bell.  It  was  first 
applied  there  in  a  large  way  at  Monsey,  near  Preston,  also  in  178.5. 
The  Jouy  print  reproduced  on  Plate  XVI  shows  copper-i'oller  print- 
ing and  copper-plate  printing  side  by  side,  the  latter  in  the  upper 
right  corner,  the  new  roller  printing  in  the  foreground.  The  river  in 
the  upper  left  corner,  flowing  past  the  factory,  is  the  Bievre  that  also 
supplied  the  Gobelin  works  in  Paris  with  good  water.  The  three 
workmen  with  flails  are  beating  and  cleaning  the  cloth  to  prepare  it 
for  printing. 

The  style  of  Jouy  prints  accommodated  itself  to  the  fashion  of 
the  hour.  The  earliest  were  mostly  in  red  and  distinctly  "Chinoiseries." 
A  few  years  later  come  peasant  scenes  inspired  by  the  paintings  and 
tapestries  of  Teniers ;  and  still  later,  allegorical  and  mythological  sub- 
jects, and  scenes  from  contemporary  history,  especially  from  the 
beginning  of  the  French  Revolution  and  from  the  American  War  of 
Independence.  Many  of  the  best  designs  of  the  later  period  were 
executed  for  Oberkampf  by  Jean  Baptiste  Huet,  so  many  of  whose 
sketches  are  preserved  in  the  Musee  des  Arts  Decoratifs  at  Paris. 

MORRIS  AND  WEARNE 

The  great  designer  and  maker  of  linen  and  cotton  and  worsted 
prints  in  the  nineteenth  century  was  William  Morris   (1834-1896), 

3i3 


Plate  XXII— LATF,   KIGHT1';Kx\TH  CKNTUUY   PRINTS  MADF.   IX   FKANCE 
Depicting  the  triumi^h  of  Washington,  and  probably  made  for  the  American  market 


344 


Plate  XXIV— AN  yWCIENT  PRINT,  THE  SO-CAl;LEU  TOILE  DE  LA  BASTII.E 

346 


CHINTZES  AND  CRETONNES 

whose  work  was  so  good  that,  like  the  work  of  Oberkanipf  and  Huet 
at  Jouy,  it  is  still  printed  and  used  ( Plates  XXVIII  and  XXIX ) .  It 
was  printed  mainly  from  wooden  blocks.  For  the  modern  reproduc- 
tion of  Morris's  cloths,  as  well  as  those  of  Oberkampf  and  others,  the 
original  blocks  are  still  used. 

Today  in  the  United  States,  on  account  of  labour  conditions,  the 
block  printing  of  textiles  is  impracticable.  Nevertheless,  we  have  block 
prints  (Plates  XXVI  and  XXVII)  in  both  new  and  old  designs, 
which,  though  printed  in  England,  were  originated  in  New  Vork  by 
Harry  AVearne,  head  of  the  ancient  Zuber  works  at  Rixheim  in  the 
heart  of  the  war  zone,  from  which  Mr.  ^Vearne,  who  is  an  English 
citizen,  escaped  into  Switzerland  just  as  the  British  ultimatum  to 
Germany  expired.  Mr.  Wearne,  whose  American  connexions  have 
been  close  for  many  years,  and  who  has  passed  much  of  his  time  here, 
has  now  taken  up  his  residence  permanently  in  the  United  States  and 
may  now  be  able  here  to  exercise  as  important  an  influence  as  Morris 
did  in  England  diu'ing  the  later  nineteenth  century. 

MODERN  PROCESSES 

The  principal  methods  now  used  for  printing  on  cloth  are : 

(1)  From  wooden  blocks  with  pattern  in  relief. 

(2)  Perrotine  block  printing. 

(3)  From  copper  plates  with  pattern  in  intaglio. 

(4)  From  copper  rollers  with  pattern  in  intaglio. 

(5)  Stencilling. 

(1)  Hand  block  printing  gives  extraordinarily  rich  and  soft 
effects,  particularly  in  large  patterns.  The  blocks  are  of  box  or  pear 
wood  backed  with  pine.  The  larger  surfaces  are  filled  in  with  felt 
and  the  fine  details  are  executed  in  copper  ribbon  or  wire  driven  into 
the  wood.    In  this  process  each  colour  dries  before  the  next  is  applied. 

(2)  The  "perrotine"  is  a  machine  named  from  Perrot,  who 
invented  it  in  Rouen  in  1834.  It  handles  three  blocks  at  a  time,  impos- 
ing the  second  and  the  third  colours  while  the  first  is  still  fresh.  It  is 
limited  to  three  colours  and  to  comparatively  small  patterns. 

(3)  Most  of  the  copper  plate  prints  executed  by  Oberkampf 
were  in  one  colour,  thus  eliminating  the  necessity  of  exact  register, 
which  is  a  great  disadvantage  of  the  plate  process. 

(4)  In  roller  printing  the  size  of  the  pattern  is  limited  by  the 

347 


% 


(1) 


(3) 


(3) 


(5) 


(«) 


(1)  and   (2)  Jouy  prints;   ('.i)  unci  (I)   Rouen;   (5)    I'lencli  about  1830; 

(())   Modern  reproduction,  |)rinted  from  the  original  lilock  of 

an  eighteenth  century  Englisli  print 


Plate  XXV— ANCIENT  PRINTED  CLOTHS 

348 


#^-^1  ^ii'^l^  ^^flcr-^f 

Plate  XXVI— PHKASANT  AND  LARCH 
Originated  in  America  and  printed  in  Kngland  on  linen,  from  wooden  l)locks 

(1)   C.rinliiifr  tJiblion  strijje  (2)   Old-fashioned   Engli>li  .stripe 

"^^  

(.!)  Cliinese  cocl«atoo  (4)  Chinese  lioneymoon 

Plate  XXVII— MODERN  BLOCK  PRINTS 
Printed  in  England  but  originated  in  America 

349 


(1)  Kose 


(3)  Strawberry  Thief,  in  bright  colors  (3)   Brer  Rabbit,  in  blue 

Plate  XXVIII— THREE   BLOCK   PRINT  DESIGNS   BY  WILLIAM   MORRIS 

350 


CHINTZES  AND  CRETONNES 

circumference  of  the  roller,  which  is  usually  15  or  18  inches.  The 
rollers,  which  were  anciently  engraved  by  hand,  are  now  etched  or 
milled.  In  the  etching  process  an  enlarged  image  of  the  design  is 
thrown  upon  a  zinc  plate  with  an  enlarging  camera,  and  then  painted 
in  the  proper  colours  and  the  outline  of  each  colour  engraved  by 
hand.  Then  the  pantograph  transfers  and  reduces  the  design  from 
the  zinc  plate  to  the  varnished  siu-face  of  a  copper  roller  in  the  form 
of  tiny  holes  through  which  the  etching  acid  reaches  the  copper  and 
eats  the  design  into  the  roller.  In  the  milling  process  the  pattern  is 
eugra\'ed  by  hand  on  a  small,  soft  steel  roller,  which  is  then  hardened 
by  plunging  when  red  hot  into  cold  water.  This  is  the  die  from  which 
the  mill  is  made.  A  soft  steel  roller  is  rotated  against  the  die  until 
it  receives  the  design  in  relief.  This  is  the  "mill"  that  when  hardened 
and  tempered  makes  copper  rollers  galore  by  being  revolved  against 
them. 

(5)  Stencilling  is  really  painting  as  distinguished  from  print- 
ing, and  uses  cut-out  patterns  through  which  the  colours  are  applied 
with  the  brush. 

The  printing  of  fabrics  may  be  either  direct  or  indirect.  The 
four  principal  methods  are: 

(1)  Direct  printing  from  blocks,  plates  or  rollers. 

(2)  Mordant  printing. 

(3)  Resist  printing. 

(4)  Discharge  printing. 

The  first  method  actually  deposits  the  colours.  The  second 
leaves  mordants  that  afterwards  in  the  dye  pot  make  the  dye  take 
where  the  mordant  has  been  printed.  Compare  Pliny's  description  of 
mordant  painting.  The  third  method  leaves  resists  that  prevent  the 
dye  from  taking  where  they  are  applied.  The  fourth  method  deposits 
acids  or  alkalies  that  eat  away  the  colour  where  they  have  been  applied. 
Bre'r  Rabbit,  on  Plate  XXVIII,  was  made  by  discharge  printing  on 
a  cloth  previously  dyeitFblue. 

Plate  XXX  shows  an  extreme  example  of  fineness  of  detail 
and  exquisite  blending  of  colour.  Indeed,  the  result  looks  more  like 
painting  than  like  printing,  except  for  its  accentuation  of  exactness. 
Certainly,  from  the  engraver's  point  of  view,  nothing  better  could  be 
done.  The  plates  are  ancient  ones  from  Miilhausen,  and  the  modern 
printing  with  them  was  done  in  France. 

351 


(1)   African  Marigold 


(2)  Wandle 


(3)  Honeysuckle 
Plate  XXIX— THREE  CHINTZES  BY  WILLIAM  MORRIS 

353 


■^'' 


Plate  XXX— MODERN  SATIN,  PRINTED  IN  BRIGHT  COLOURS 
From  ancient  copper  plates 


Plate  XXXI— MODERN  CHINTZ  ON  LINEN 
Printed  from  the  ancient  blocks 


353 


(1) 


(2) 


(3) 


(4) 


Plate  XXXII— FOUR  MODKRN  AMERICAN  SILK  PRINTS 

354 


Si" 

Sii: 


iii'i!;!'  iii; 


Plate  XXXIII— COTTON  CLOTH  OX  WHICH  AJIERICAN  MAKERS  PRINT 
WITH  COPPEH  ROLLERS 


355 


mmMmmm 


mmm 


-:  --iW! 


•  •iW'" 


-^^J^-W  •^^**^'-li-  ■^^^'^'-ii- -^^ 
•>s-M'  v^il^^-iroir-  v^^:m^.  v^iiiis-Mi 


Plate  XXXIV— KIGHT  CRKTOXXF,   PATTKUXS  .11  ST   HKOLGHT  OL  T   B\    AN 

AMERICAN  MAKER 


:we 


CHINTZES  AND  CRETONNES 

AMERICAN  ROLLER  PRINTING 

Silk  printing  has  made  a  wonderful  advance  in  America  in  the 
past  ten  years.  The  high  artistic  quality  of  some  of  the  drapery 
designs  is  shown  on  Plate  XXXII.  No.  1  reproduces  an  ancient 
European  museum  brocade;  No.  2,  an  Asiatic  mosque,  birds  and 
trees ;  No.  3  is  a  design  adajited  by  a  New  York  girl  from  an  old  Rus- 
sian wall  paper;  No.  4,  a  Chinese  children's  tea  party. 

Plate  XXXIII  shows  some  of  the  various  cotton  weaves  used  by 
American  printers  to  secure  various  effects.  The  obvious  peculiarities 
of  the  weaves  are : 

(1)  Homespun,  fine  warp  with  coarse,  irregular  weft,  that 
gives  a  ribbed  and  homespun  look  to  the  surface.  ( 2 )  Swansdown,  an 
open,  plain  weave  with  fuzzy  yarn  that  gives  a  fleecy  surface.  (3) 
Almos  silk,  a  silkoline  embossed  to  increase  the  lustre.  (4)  Ticking, 
a  firm  and  heavy  warp  twill  for  hard  wear,  as  the  name  implies. 
(5)  Crepoline,  a  sateen  embossed  to  increase  lustre  and  give  crepy 
effect.  (6)  Scrim,  a  plain,  open  weave.  The  sample  illustrated  is 
striped  by  the  insertion  of  extra  warps.  (7)  French  rep,  fine  warp 
and  coarse  weft  that  produces  the  rep  effect.  (8)  Antoinette  rep, 
a  coarse,  flat  rep  produced  by  inserting  the  coarse  wefts  in  pairs. 
(9)  Voile,  like  scrim,  but  finer  and  harder  spun.  (10)  Tuileries 
cloth,  a  cotton  taffeta  figured  by  floating  the  wefts.  (11)  Marquisette, 
a  net  formed  by  warps  twisting  in  pairs  around  the  wefts.  (12) 
Krinklc  cloth,  a  plain,  open  weave  embossed  to  give  the  crinkly  effect 
to  Austrian  shades.  (13)  Standish  cloth,  a  firm  and  durable  plain 
weave  with  diagonal  ribs  formed  by  coarse  wefts  that  interlace  pairs 
of  warp.i.  (14)  Terry  cloth,  a  shaggy,  irregular  weave  with  twisted 
and  uncut  warp  pile.  (15)  Ma Jr<w,  marquisette  (see  above)  figured 
by  weaving  in  pairs  of  soft  extra  wefts  and  then  cutting  away  the 
floats.  The  rough  side  is  the  right  side.  (16)  Silkoline,  a  cheap,  plain, 
open  weave  of  fine  yarn,  finished  to  look  as  silky  as  possible.  (17) 
Dimity,  warp  twill  stripes  in  relief  on  ground  of  plain  weave.  (18) 
Crash,  plain,  loose  weave  of  irregular  yarn.  (19)  Sateen,  a  coai'se 
cotton  satin  with  weft  instead  of  warp  surface.  (20)  Norman  cloth, 
a  cotton  taffeta  with  tiny  relief  figures  formed  by  floating  the  wefts. 

Credit  for  illustrations:  Plates  III  to  X  and  XVI,  XVIII,  XIX,  XXI  5,  XXII,  the 
Library  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum;  Plates  XI,  XV,  XXV,  XXVI,  XXVII,  Harrv  Wearne; 
Plates'XXVIII  and  XXIX,  A.  K.  Bulkelev  and  Morris  &  Co.;  Plate  XXX,  A.  E.  Bulkeley; 
Plate  XXXII,  Cheney  Bros.;  Plates  XXXHI  and  XXXIV,  Elms  &  Sellon. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

WALL  PAPERS 

Their  Origin,  History  and  Manufacture 

Papers  used  to  cover  side  walls  and  ceilings  are  called  "wall 
papers."  They  are  usually  attached  directly  to  the  walls  with  paste, 
but  are  sometimes  backed  with  nuislin  or  canvas  before  pasting,  or 
before  being  attached  to  battens  like  fabric  wall  hangings.  The  latter 
method  is  preferable  for  scenic  and  picture  papers  of  great  value,  as 
it  preserves  them  from  injury  by  possible  dampness  of  the  walls,  and 
enables  them  to  be  safely  removed  and  rehung  in  case  of  necessity. 

Most  paper  is  now  made  by  machine  in  continuous  rolls  that  are 
cut  apart  to  the  length  required.  English  wall  papers  are  usually 
sold  in  rolls  12  yards  long  and  21  inches  wide;  French  and  German 
wall  papers  in  rolls  9  yards  long  and  18  inches  wide;  American  wall 
papers  in  double  rolls  16  yards  long  and  18  inches  wide.  Previous  to 
the  nineteenth  century — paper  being  made  by  hand  only  and  in  small 
sheets — wall  papers  were  either  printed  and  sold  in  small  sheets,  or 
rolls  were  made  by  pasting  together  sheets  before  printing. 

The  invention  of  paper  is  conmionly  attributed  to  the  Chinese, 
despite  the  fact  that  the  word  paper  is  derived  from  papyrus,  one  of 
the  two  sacred  plants  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  the  other  being 
the  lotus  that  Professor  Goodyear,  of  the  Brooklyn  Museum,  has 
exploited  in  an  epoch-making  book.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Egyp- 
tians used  paper  made  from  the  papyrus  more  than  3,000  years  before 
the  Chinese  discovered  how  to  make  paper  from  the  mulberry  and 
the  bamboo.  Also,  both  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans  used  Egyptian 
paper  made  from  the  papyrus,  and  continued  to  use  it  until  the  fifth 
century  A.  D.,  when  the  arts  of  western  Europe  were  submerged 
beneath  the  hordes  of  wandering  barbarians.  After  that  most  of  the 
writing  done  in  European  monasteries  appeared  on  the  polished  skins 
of  sheep  and  other  animals  (parchment  and  vellum). 

.S58 


Plate  I— "THE  ORIGIN  OF  WALL  PAPF.R" 

A  Chinese  painting  in  the  style  of  Kien-liiiig,  i)ictiiring  the  Taoist  fairy, 

Mo-ku-hsien,  with  atteiuiaiit  (leer 


359 


.  ',i 


A>»  •■  I    ^''  .  ^  rr-Izit 


■naiv' 


<  \r-r-: 


"sSF^-^iiirr 


WALL  PAPERS 

.  During  the  Dark  xVges,  from  the  fifth  to  the  tenth  centuries, 
paper  making  declined  in  Egypt,  and  came  practically  as  a  new  art 
when  brought  west  by  the  Mohammedans,  who  acquired  it  in  Central 
Asia  from  the  Chinese  in  tlie  eighth  century. 

Here  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Chinese  paper  was  superior 
in  quality  and  durability  to  the  papyrus  paper  of  Egypt,  having  a 
smoother  surface  with  fibres  more  completely  macerated.  Evidence 
of  the  acquisition  of  the  art  by  the  Mohammedans  are  the  numerous 
Arabic  manuscripts  on  paper,  which  have  been  preserved,  dating  from 
the  ninth  century.  By  the  Moiiammedans  the  manufacture  of  paper 
was  established  in  Sicily  and  in  Spain,  and,  upon  the  Christian  occu- 
pation of  these  countries,  was  taken  over  by  the  Christians  and  intro- 
duced into  Italy  and  France.  In  Italy,  the  first  place  to  become 
famous  for  paper  making  was  Fabriano,  where  mills  were  set  up  in 
1276,  and  where  papers  like  the  ancient  ones  are  still  made  and 
exported  to  New  York  and  elsewhere.  During  the  second  half  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  the  use  of  paper  for  literary  purposes  became 
common  in  all  western  Europe,  and  before  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century  it  had  entirely  sujjplanted  parchment  and  vellum. 

Technically,  paper  may  be  described  as  thin  sheets  or  rolls  com- 
posed of  cellulose  fibres  that  have  been  felted  together  under  water. 
The  forms  and  combinations  of  paper  are  various  but  the  constituent 
materials  (carbon,  hydrogen  and  oxygen)  are  always  the  same  and 
in  the  same  proportions.  Linen  and  cotton  rags  consist  of  such  fibres 
from  which  the  impin-ities  are  easily  eliminated,  but  wood,  straw  and 
esparto  require  elaborate  chemical  treatment  with  great  heat.  Until 
the  middle  of  the  nineteentii  century  most  European  paper  was  made 
of  rags. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  WALL  PAPERS 

While  wall  papers  are  of  Chinese  origin,  the  Chinese  themselves 
never  used  them  as  wall  pajiers,  and  only  recently  have  begun,  like 
the  Hindoos,  to  imitate  a  fashion  set  by  Europeans.  Plate  I,  in  colour, 
entitled  "The  Origin  of  Wall  Paper,"  reproduces  not  a  Chinese  wall 
paper  but  a  Chinese  painting.  In  other  words,  the  origin  of  European 
wall  papers  is  to  be  sought  in  the  Chinese  paintings  on  paper  which 
were  brouglit  to  Europe  in  considerable  quantities  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  Such  paintings,  instead  of  being  framed  in  the  European 
fashion,  are  mounted  by  the  Chinese  on  rollers  and  hung  around  the 

361 


^^BVHR 

mm^    JmiMi^ 

(1)  A  Teniers  tapestry  in  paper 


(2)  Psyche  nt  the  Bath,  designed  by  David  for  Xapoleon 

Plate  III— FAMOUS  PICTURE  WALL  PAPERS 

Printed  in  Paris  from  the  ancient  hand  blocks 


362 


WALL  PAPERS 

walls  of  a  room  as  temporary,  but  never  as  permanent,  decorations. 

Chinamen  are  born  brush  in  hand  and  write,  not  with  a  pen,  but 
with  a  brush.  The  brush  is  the  national  method  of  expression  in 
China  and  every  Celestial  takes  his  brush  in  hand  just  as  recklessly  as 
we  take  the  pen.  Consequently,  painting  is  so  conmion  in  China 
that  every  family  of  any  position  has  hundreds  of  rolls  of  paintings, 
which  are  opened  about  as  often  as  we  open  the  books  in  our  book- 
cases. The  monotony  of  seeing  the  same  pictures  hanging  on  the 
same  walls  week  in  and  week  out,  year  after  year,  would  shrivel  the 
artistic  souls  of  those  whose  familiarity  with  the  brush  keeps  them 
from  slavish  adoration  of  the  images  that  it  produces. 

Wall  paper  as  wall  paper  is  a  European  development  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  started  by  the  European  vogue  of  Chinese  paper 
paintings.  As  soon  as  Europeans  began  to  attach  papers  per- 
manently to  walls,  and  use  them  as  all-over  wall  decorations,  and  to 
have  papers  painted  to  order  in  China  (Plate  II  shows  such  a 
paper  that  is  now  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art),  and  block 
printed  in  Europe,  wall  paper  had  been  invented.  Before  that  wall 
papers  did  not  exist.  Before  that  the  papers  used  to  decorate  walls 
were  separate  pictures  like  our  water-colour  drawings,  engravings 
and  prints  of  today. 

The  genius  of  Europeans  is  different  from  that  of  the  Chinese. 
Whilst  many  of  the  earliest  European  imitations  of  Chinese  papers 
were  jjainted  with  the  brush,  the  extraordinary  development  of.  print- 
ing in  Europe  (prevented  in  China  by  the  cumbersomeness  of  the 
Chinese  alphabet)  had  prepared  Europeans  to  print  what  the  Chinese 
usually  painted.  So  wooden  blocks  were  cut  for  each  colour  of  the 
design  and  the  block  printing  of  wall  papers  became  an  important 
industry  in  England  and  in  France. 

Side  by  side  with  the  block-printed  papers  there  continued  to  be 
used  the  Chinese  painted  papers,  which  had  first  been  impoi-ted  in 
small  quantities  by  the  Portuguese  in  the  sixteenth  century  and  in 
larger  quantities  by  the  Dutch,  French  and  English  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  Macky,  in  1720,  speaks  of  Sir  Richard  Child's  residence  as 
having  "a  parlour  finely  adorned  with  China  paper,  the  figures  of  men 
and  women,  birds  and  flowers,  the  liveliest  I  ever  saw  come  from  that 
country."  Sir  Joseph  Banks  wrote  in  his  Journal  in  1770:  "A  man 
need  go  no  further  to  study  the  Chinese  than  the  China  paper,  the 
better  sort  of  which  represents  their  persons  and  such  of  their  customs, 

368 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

dresses,  etc.,  as  I  have  seen,  most  strikingly  like,  though  a  little  in  the 
caricatura  style." 

Such  papers  were  customary  gifts  from  ambassadors  and  mer- 
chants in  China  to  their  friends  at  home.  Many  boxes,  each  usually 
containing  twelve  lengths,  have  in  recent  years  been  discovered  unused 
in  the  attics  and  lumber  rooms  of  old  English  country  houses.  Also, 
many  of  them  are  still  on  the  walls  where  they  were  first  hung,  notably 
the  one  in  the  bedroom  at  Badminton;  and  the  one  in  the  Baroness's 
room  at  Coutts's  Bank  on  the  Strand,  brought  to  England  by  Lord 
Macartney,  the  British  envoy  to  China,  who  immortalised  himself  by 
refusing  to  "kowtow"  to  the  Chinese  Emperor.  In  1780  a  paper 
representing  the  various  trades  and  occupations  of  China  was  hung 
in  the  drawing  room  of  Brasted  in  Kent,  by  Dr.  Turton,  favourite  of 
King  George  III,  who  is  said  to  have  received  it  as  a  present  from 
the  Emperor  of  China. 

Wall  paj)ers  played  havoc  with  the  plans  of  those  whose  devotion 
to  the  Italian  Renaissance  as  expressed  in  Italy  by  Palladio,  intro- 
duced into  England  by  Inigo  Jones,  and  revived  by  Sir  William  Kent, 
demanded  that  interiors  be  accentuated  with  architectural  ornament 
in  relief.  Isaac  Ware,  in  his  book  on  "Classic  Architecture,"  pub- 
lished in  1756,  was  peculiarly  distressed  by  the  fact  that  "paper  has 
taken  the  place  of  sculpture,"  by  paper  meaning  wall  paper,  and  by 
sculpture,  architectural  coluums,  pilasters,  pediments  and  mouldings 
in  stone  or  wood  or  plaster.  A  large  proportion  of  the  early  French 
and  English  papers  bore  designs  that  were  either  Chinese  (more  or 
less  Europeanised)  or  Chinese  and  Rococo  mixed.  Probably  Ware 
was  less  hostile  to  the  crimson  flock  papers,  some  plain  and  some  with 
Genoese  velvet  patterns,  because  they  could  be  used  in  Classic 
interiors.  These  flock  papers,  made  by  covering  paper  with  a  sticky 
substance  and  then  dusting  the  surface  with  powdered  wool,  had  been 
used  to  line  boxes  and  furniture  and  as  screen  fillers  as  early  as  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  in  small  panels  on  walls  perhaps  as  early  as 
the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

We  also  have  many  interesting  items  about  the  use  of  Chinese 
papers  in  France  in  the  eighteenth  century.  In  1770  there  were 
advertised  for  sale  in  Paris  "twenty-four  sheets  of  Chinese  paper,  with 
figures  and  gilt  ornaments,  each  ten  feet  high  by  three  and  a  half 
wide,  at  twenty-four  livres  a  sheet."  In  1779  an  apartment  in  Paris 
was  advertised  to  lert,  having  "a  pretty  boudoir  with  China  paper  in 


Plate  IV— "THE  CHINESE  GARDEN" 

A  hand-blocked  landscape  paper,  made  in  Alsace  about  1840,  after  designs  by  French  artists 

The  illustration  shows  two  widths  out  of  the  ten  forming  the  complete  picture 


S65 


m^i^. 


(1)  The  .Macaw  frieze  designed  by  the  gifted  French  painter,  J.  Francois 
Auhertin,  the  favo\irite  pupil  of  Puvis  de  Cliavannes 


%        ../^ 


(2)   Isola  Bella,  originated  about  1840 


(;i)    Panier  Fleuri,  originated   about   18:50  by  I.uigi 

Testoni,  at  the  Italian  wall  pa])er  factory 

in  San  Pier  d'Arcria,  near  Genoa 


Plate  V— THKEE  HAND-BLOCKKD  ALSATIAN  PAPERS 

360 


(1) 


w 


Plate  VI— MODERN  MACHINE-PRINTED  ZUBER  PAPERS 
Except  No.  3,  which  is  liand  blocked 

367 


-  V  If  «A 


Plate  VII— MODKUX  MACIIINK-PRINTED  ZUBER  PAPERS  IN  THE  CHINESE  STYLE 


308 


WALL  PAPERS 

sinall  figures  representing  arts  and  crafts,  thirteen  sheets  with  height 
of  eight  feet  ten  inches  and  combined  width  of  thirty-seven  feet."  In 
1781  "a  China  wall  paper,  glazed,  blue  ground,  made  for  a  room 
eighteen  feet  square,  with  gilt  moulding." 

THE  FOLLOT  COI.LECTION 

The  most  interesting  exhibition  ever  made  of  ancient  wall  papers 
was  by  the  late  Felix  Follot  at  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1900.  The 
writer  was  fortunate  enough  to  have  lent  him  a  copy  of  the  privately 
printed  little  book  prepared  by  M.  Follot  with  the  title  "Papiers 
peints,  a  I'exposition  universelle  internationale  de  1900."  At  this 
point  it  is  important  to  note  that  the  French  name  for  wall  papers  is 
still  papiers  peints  (painted  papers),  inherited  from  the  period  when 
they  actually  were  painted. 

M.  Follot  had  spent  forty  years  in  getting  together  his  collec- 
tion, and  the  honour  of  organising  the  exhibition  was  only  a  just 
reward.  According  to  M.  Follot,  there  was  a  maker  of  "flock  papers 
for  hangings"  at  Rouen,  in  1610,  named  Le  Fran9ois.  Also,  in  1688, 
Jean  Papillon,  an  engraver,  invented  the  kind  of  wooden  block  that 
is  still  used  in  printing  wall  papers.  M.  Follot  adds  that,  despitti  the 
invention  of  the  block,  certain  papers  for  screens,  furniture  and  hang- 
ings continued  to  be  illuminated  by  hand  until  1793. 

Oddly  enough,  it  was  at  a  wall  paper  factory,  the  famous  Royal 
Manufactory  of  Reveillon,  that  the  French  Revolution  broke  out  on 
April  18th,  1789.  Reveillon  employed  over  300  workmen  and  bought 
designs  from  Huet  and  other  famous  artists.  A  rumour  had  been 
circulated  that  the  workmen  were  to  be  taxed  15  sous  a  day  and  that 
"bread  was  too  good  for  them."  A  mob  assembled  and  proceeded  to 
pillage  the  factory,  throwing  the  furniture  and  fixtures  out  into  the 
street.    The  troops  were  called  out,  and  then,  as  Carlyle  puts  it: 

"What  a  sight!  A  street  choked  up  with  lumber,  tumult  and 
endless  press  of  men.  A  Paper- Warehouse  eviscerated  by  axe  and 
fire ;  mad  din  of  revolt ;  musket  volleys  responded  to  by  yells,  by  mis- 
cellaneous missiles,  by  tiles  raining  from  roof  and  window,  tiles, 
execrations  and  slain  men! — There  is  an  encumbered  street,  four  or 
five  hundred  dead  men ;  unfortunate  Reveillon  has  found  a  shelter  in 
the  Bastile." 

Reveillon  fled  to  London,  where  he  passed  the  rest  of  his  hfe. 
In  1791,  Jacquemart  &  Benard  succeeded  to  his  business  and  brought 

3Cy 


Plate  VIIl— DKSIGXKD  IN  f:NGLAND,  MADI,   IN   Al.SACl, 

Modern  liantl-blocked  paper  in  the  Adam  style,  designed  by  the  English  architects,  Murray  & 

Durand,  on  the  basis  of  an  ancient  Wedgwood  piaqiie  and  an  Adam  vase 


370 


WALL  PAPERS 

out  many  important  scenery  papers,  amongst  them  the  "Stag  Hunt," 
which  has  himg  for  about  a  century  on  the  walls  of  a  room  in  the  old 
Andrew  Safford  house  at  Salem,  Mass.,  and  which,  when  illustrated 
in  Country  Life  in  America,  in  November,  1911,  was  identified  by 
Harry  Wearne.  Another  famous  wall  paper  maker  of  the  period 
was  Joseph  Dufour,  who  in  1814,  brought  out  the  famous  "Cupid  and 
Psyche"  series,  which  is  still  being  reprinted  from  the  original  blocks 
(Plate  III,  2). 

Amongst  the  first  wall  paper  makers  in  America  was  Josiah  Bum- 
stead,  of  Boston.  He  travelled  in  France  in  1824  and  in  1834,  and 
left  behind  him  an  interesting  diary  which  his  son  kindly  lent  to  a 
friend  of  the  writer.  Bumstead  visited  the  Zuber  works  in  Alsace 
and  writes  that  Zuber  had  succeeded,  in  1829,  in  making  the  first 
paper  in  continuous  rolls  at  his  paper  factoiy  in  Ropperswiller,  and 
had  sold  the  English  rights  for  five  thousand  dollars.  In  1850,  Zuber 
brought  back  from  Manchester,  in  England,  the  first  wall  paper  print- 
ing machine  used  in  France  (like  the  chintz  roller-printing  machine, 
with  rollers  around  the  circumference  of  a  huge  drum),  and  in  a  few 
years  almost  all  wall  papers  were  machine  printed  in  designs  that  were 
mostly  bad. 

WIIJ.IAM   MORRIS 

The  first  note  of  effective  protest  was  sounded  by  William 
Morris,  some  of  whose  wall  papers  were  shown  at  the  exposition  in 
London  in  1862.  Eight  papers  designed  by  William  Morris  are 
illustrated  on  Plates  XII  and  XIII.  Morris  regarded  wall  papers 
as  of  prime  significance  in  the  decoration  of  a  house  and  in  his  lecture 
on  the  "Lesser  Arts  of  Life,"  says: 

"Whatever  you  have  in  your  rooms,  think  first  of  the  walls,  for 
they  are  that  which  makes  your  House  and  Home,  and  if  you  don't 
make  some  sacrifice  in  their  favour  you  will  find  your  chambers  have 
a  kind  of  makeshift,  lodging-house  look  about  them,  however  rich  and 
handsome  your  movables  may  be." 

Even  more  attractive  than  Morris's  own  papers  are  some  of  those 
designed  by  one  whom  he  inspired,  Walter  Crane  (Plates  X,  XIV). 

WALL   PAPERS   IN    AMERICA 

The  early  use  of  wall  papers  in  America  is  established  by  the 
following  letter  printed  in  the  British  Decorator  of  December,  1909. 

371 


(1)   MuUcr'.s  laiiioiis   Ituscs  ])aper  (;2)  Delia  llobhia  blue  ground  with 

Classic  cameo  frieze  in  grey 


(3)   Relief  effects  in  wall  paper 


(4)  Copied  fr.im  an  old  drappry  (5)   A  delightful  quilted  effect  ((i)    Worsted  l)rocatelle  in  wall 

Jirint  of  1840  |)apcr 

Plate  IX-  SIX  WALL  PAPKRS  MADK  IX  FUANCK 

All  hand-blocked  exce|)t  5.     I,  3,  (>  are  from  the  original  blocks 


372 


AVALL  PAPERS 

Evidently  the  paper  wus  to  be  painted  by  hand  in  water  colours  in  the 
Chinese  style. 

On  January  23rd,  1737,  Thomas  Hancock,  of  Boston,  Mass., 
wrote  to  John  Rowe,  Stationer,  I^ondon,  as  follows:  "Sir:  Inclosed 
you  have  tlie  Diniensions  of  a  Room  for  a  Shade  Hanging  to  be  done 
after  the  same  pattern  I  have  sent  per  Captain  Tanner,  who  will 
deliver  it  to  you.  It's  for  my  own  House  and  entreat  the  favour  of 
you  to  Get  it  Done  for  me  to  Come  Early  in  the  Spring,  or  as  soon 
as  the  nature  of  the  Thing  will  admit. 

"The  pattern  is  all  was  I^eft  of  a  Room  Ijately  Come  over  here, 
and  it  takes  nuich  in  ye  Town  and  will  be  the  only  paper-hanging  for 
Sale  wh.  am  of  opinion  may  Answer  well.  Therefore  desire  you  by 
all  means  to  get  mine  well  Done  and  as  Cheap  as  Possible,  and  if  they 
can  make  it  more  beautifid  by  adding  more  Birds  flying  here  and  there, 
with  Some  Landskips  at  the  Bottom,  Should  like  it  well.  Let  the 
Ground  be  the  same  Colour  of  the  pattern.  At  the  Top  and  Bottom 
was  a  narrow  Border  of  about  2  Inches  wide  wh.  would  have  to  mine. 
About  three  or  fom-  years  ago,  my  friend  Francis  Wilks,  Esq.,  had  a 
hanging  Done  in  the  Same  manner  but  much  handsomer,  sent  over 
here  from  Mr.  Sam  Waldon  of  this  jjlace,  made  by  one  Dunbar  in 
Aldermanbury,  where  no  doubt  he,  or  some  of  his  successors  may  be 
found.  In  the  other  part  of  these  Hangings  are  Great  Variety  of 
Different  Sorts  of  Birds ;  Peacocks,  Macoys,  Squirril,  Monkys,  Fruit 
and  Flowers,  &c. 

"But  a  greater  Variety  in  the  above  mentioned  of  Mr.  Waldron's 
and  Should  be  fond  of  having  mine  done  by  the  Same  hand  if  to  be 
mett  with.  I  design  if  this  pleases  me  to  have  two  Rooms  more  done 
for  myself.  I  Think  they  are  handsomer  and  Better  than  Painted 
hangings  Done  in  Oyle,  so  I  Beg  your  particular  Care  in  procuring 
this  for  me,  and  that  the  patterns  may  be  Taken  Care  of  and  Removed 
with  my  goods." 

Just  as  I  am  writing  this  chapter,  comes  the  announcement  of  the 
death  of  my  friend,  Kate  Sanborn,  who  was  the  historian  in  America 
of  "Old-Time  Wall  Papers."  With  wonderful  patience  she  per- 
severed year  after  year  in  collecting  photographs  of  ancient  papers, 
mostly  picture  papers  and  mostly  imported,  that  had  hung  for  gen- 
erations on  the  walls  of  American  homes.  These  she  has  preserved 
for  all  time  on  the  eighty-three  j)lates  of  the  only  important  book 
that  has  ever  been  published  on  the  subject. 

87.'5 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

Miss  Sanborn's  enthusiasm  for  picture  wall  papers  was  due  to 
early  inspiration.  She  was  born  at  Hanover,  N.  H.,  in  a  room  dec- 
orated with  scenes  from  the  Bay  of  Naples,  illustrated  on  Plates 
58-62  of  her  book.    As  she  herself  writes: 

"Although  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  I  was  born  at  the  foot 
of  Mount  Vesuvius,  and  there  was  a  merry  dance  to  the  music  of 
mandolin  and  tambourine  round  the  tomb  of  Virgil  on  my  natal  morn. 
Some  men  were  fishing,  others  bringing  in  the  catch;  farther  on  was 
a  picnic  party,  sentimental  youths  and  maidens  eating  comfits  and 
dainties  to  the  tender  notes  of  a  flute.  And  old  Vesuvius  was  smok- 
ing violently.  All  this  because  the  room  in  which  I  made  my  debut 
was  adorned  with  a  scenic  paper." 

Other  papers  illustrated  by  Miss  Sanborn  are: 

Plates  12,  13,  14,  The  Cultivation  of  Tea,  a  hand-painted 
Chinese  paper  imjjorted  about  1750.  Plates  12,  13,  Stencilled  papers 
from  Nantucket.  Plates  22,  23,  Papers  with  landscape  repeats  at 
Clarendon,  N.  H.,  and  in  Salem,  Mass.  Plate  28,  Washington 
memorial  paper.  Plate  29,  Dorothy  Quincy  wedding  paper,  imported 
for  her  marriage  to  John  Hancock  in  1775,  and  still  hanging  on  the 
walls  of  the  north  parlour  of  the  Dorothy  Quincy  house  in  Quincy, 
Mass.  Plates  34,  35,  Pizarro  in  Peru,  in  the  Ezra  Western  house  at 
Duxbury,  Mass.  Plates  36,  37,  Tropical  Scenes,  from  the  Ham 
house  at  Peabody,  Mass.  Plates  38,  39,  On  the  Bosporus,  from  a 
liome  in  Montpelier,  Vt.  Plates  56,  57,  Scenes  from  Paris.  Plates 
65-69,  The  Adventures  of  Telemachus.  Plates  71-76,  The  Olympic 
Games,  made  in  France,  and  imported  to  Boston  about  1800,  but 
never  hung.  Plates  77-79,  The  Lady  of  the  Lake,  scenes  illustrating 
Scott's  famous  poem,  and  still  hanging  in  good  condition  on  the  walls 
of  houses  in  Greenbush,  Mass.;  Wayland,  Mass.;  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 
Plates  81-83,  The  Seasons,  a  grey  monotone  on  the  library  of  Pro- 
fessor Young  at  Hanover,  N.  H. 

BAXDBOXES 

Nor  should  I  forget  the  "little  sisters"  of  wall  papers,  bandboxes, 
so  many  of  which  were  adorned  with  scenes  block-printed  on  paper. 
A  large  collection  of  these  was  made  by  my  friend,  the  late  Alex- 
ander W.  Drake.  Many  of  them  bear  the  names  of  the  wall  paper 
manufacturers  who  printed  them.  The  most  important  part  of  this 
collection  was  acquired  for  the  New  York  Cooper  Union  Museum. 
374 


Plate  X— WALTKH  CRANirS  "MACAW" 

III  many  respects  the  most  delightful  paper  ijroduced  by  the   famous   English  firm   that  William   Morris 

founded.    Nr*    the  strength  of  the  design  and  the  gentleness  of  the  colouration.     Walter  Crane 

stands  at  the  head  of  all  modern  designers  of  wall  paper,  in  the  opinion  of  many 


375 


a, 


O  = 
«5 


>i<      C 


O      r. 

'SI  .= 


WALL  PAPERS 

ANCESTORS  OF  WALL  PAPERS 

From  the  design  point  of  view  there  are  three  principal  types  of 
wallpapers:  (1)  Picture  papers;  (2)  Pattern  papers;  (3)  Texture 
papers.  The  texture  papers  are  those  that  imitate  or  suggest  the 
texture  of  other  materials,  such  as  velvets,  tapestry,  embroidery,  satin, 
damask,  leather,  wood,  stone,  plaster,  etc.  (Plates  XVIII,  XIX). 

From  the  decorative  point  of  view  the  ancestors  of  picture  wall 
papers  are  not  only  detached  paintings  and  prints  on  canvas  and  wood 
as  well  as  paper,  but  also  picture  tapestries,  and  especially  the  paint- 
ings and  drawings  that  have  been,  in  all  ages  from  the  cave  man  down, 
applied  direct  to  walls.  The  most  important  examples  are  the  coloured 
paintings,  some  flat  and  some  in  low  relief,  that  have  been  preserved 
on  the  walls  of  the  mastabas,  pyramids  and  temples  of  ancient  Egypt 
(as  illustrated  by  the  inner  walls  of  the  mastaba  of  Perneb  at  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art )  ;  the  mural  paintings  of  ancient  Rome, 
which  inspired  Raphael  and  Giulio  Romano,  as  well  as  Robert  Adam, 
Huet  and  David  (as  illustrated  by  the  Boscoreale  frescoes  at  the 
Metropolitan  Museum)  ;  and  the  glorious  mural  frescoes  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  which  have  immortalised  the  names  of  Botticelli,  Ghir- 
landajo,  Mantegna,  Da  Vinci,  Michelangelo  and  a  score  of  others 
(as  illustrated  by  PoUaiuolo's  Saint  Christopher  at  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art). 

Vividly  do  the  Boscoreale  frescoes  show  what  the  ancient  Greeks 
and  Romans  used  instead  of  wall  paper.  Buried  in  the  year  A.  D.  79, 
in  a  Roman  country  house  near  Pompeii,  by  the  eruption  of  Vesuvius, 
these  frescoes  lay  concealed  for  over  1800  years,  until  excavated  in 
1901  and  brought  to  this  country  in  1903.  The  richness  of  the  colours 
is  surprising.  Dried  into  the  plaster  over  eighteen  hundred  years  ago, 
the  reds  and  yellows,  greens  and  blues  are  still  wonderfully  alive. 
The  way  in  which  they  contrast  and  blend  testifies  to  the  skill  of  the 
journeyman  mural  painter  of  the  period. 

The  walls  of  one  whole  room  have  been  set  up  at  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art  in  what  is  said  to  be  their  original  position.  The  walls 
are  without  relief,  all  the  colimins  and  architectural  details  being 
painted  on  flat  plaster  with  forced  perspective  and  forced  shadows  to 
give  the  semblance  of  form  and  reality.  The  room  looks  much  larger 
than  it  really  is.  This  is  the  result  of  deliberate  intention.  On  every 
side  the  eye  is  met  by  out-of-door  scenes,  with  distant  sky.  The 
illusion  is  splendid.     Those  familiar  with  the  famous  Alsatian  "El 

877 


( 1 )  Compton 


(2)   I.ily  and  Pciiiicgranato 


(3)  Pimpernel  (4)   Fruit 

Plate  XII— FAMOUS  PAPERS  BY  WILLIAM  MORRIS 

378 


(1)  Giirdcii  tiilij) 


(3)   Iris 


YTWk 


(3)   Trellis  (4)    Hoiun  ,i.> 

Plate  XIII— FAMOUS  PAPERS  BY  WILLIAM    MORRIS 

3T9 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

Dorado"  wall  paper  will  have  a  good  mental  picture  of  what  I  mean. 

The  architecture  pictured  in  the  Boscoreale  frescoes  is  not 
realistic.  In  fact,  much  of  it  is  impossible.  The  artist  has  made 
columns  graceful  at  the  expense  of  strength,  and  has  piled  structural 
masses  where  they  would  be  theatrically  effective.  He  was  avowedly 
not  imitating  nature  but  producing  decoration.  This  is  shown  not 
only  by  the  fancifulness  of  the  architecture,  but  also  by  the  repetition 
of  scenes.  Repetition  is  what  separates  decoration  from  the  art  that 
imitates  or  interprets  nature.  Nature  seldom  repeats  and  never 
exactly.  Of  ornament  and  pattern,  repetition  is  the  backbone.  In 
repetition,  as  in  most  other  things,  excess  is  easy — particularly  if  it 
is  done  by  machine.  Modern  wall  papers  surround  us  with  obtrusive 
stupidities  repeated  a  thousand  times.  No  wonder  that  many  of  the 
wall  paper  manufacturers  bring  out  a  new  set  of  patterns  every  year. 

In  this  Boscoreale  room,  that  consists  of  main  room  and  alcove — - 
the  alcove  being  the  part  next  to  the  windowed  wall — ^the  repetition 
is  sufficient  to  make  ornament  without  making  monotony.  The  north 
and  south  walls  of  the  main  room  ai"e  alike,  each  consisting  of  three 
panels,  the  outer  two  of  which  are  the  same  reversed.  That  is  to  say, 
only  two  different  panels  appear  on  the  two  walls,  panel  A  and 
panel  B,  the  former  four  times  and  the  latter  twice. 

The  symmetry,  however,  is  not  exact.  The  mask  and  the  god- 
dess in  the  middle  panel  of  the  north  wall  are  not  the  same  as  the 
mask  and  the  goddess  in  the  middle  panel  of  the  south  wall.  There  is 
also  variety  in  the  masks  and  the  statues  of  the  outer  panels  and  many 
minor  differences,  some  of  which  were  clearly  intentional.  As  in 
Oriental  rugs  and  Renaissance  tapestries  and  other  examples  of 
genius  in  ornament,  the  repetition  that  brings  balance  and  reduces 
natural  forms  to  human  terms  is  relieved  by  happy  variety  in  detail. 

The  west  or  windowed  wall  of  the  room  consists  of  three  panels, 
the  outer  two  of  which  are  the  same,  reversed.  The  middle  one  shows 
a  bowl  of  fruit  with  parrot  above.  The  outer  two  show  a  grotto, 
fountains  and  bright-coloured  birds. 

The  Boscoreale  frescoes  would  be  interesting  to  reproduce  on 
modern  walls,  with  the  brush  on  canvas  or  with  the  block  paper. 

PATTERN  AND  TEXTURE  PAPERS 

Chinese  wall  papers  and  those  based  on  them  (Plates  II,  IV) 
occupy  an  intermediate  position  between  picture  papers  and  pattei-n 

380 


Plate  XIV--FAMOUS  PAPERS  DESIGNED  BY  WALTER  CRANE 

In  the  upper  left  corner,  Fig  and  Peacock;  in  the  upper  right,  Golden  Age;  in  the  lower  left  corner.  Wood 

Notes  inspired  bv  Shakespeare's  Midsummer  Xiglit's  Dream;  on  the  right.  Peacock 


381 


■5 


3  S 

O    w 

U  51 


WALL  PAPERS 

papers.  The  absence  of  accentuated  light  and  shade  and  of  the  archi- 
tectural perspective  so  pronounced  in  Chvssic  papers  like  "Psyche 
at  the  liath"  (Plate  IIL  2)  gives  Chinese  pictures  an  effect  that 
lessens  the  illusion  and  brings  thein  nearer  to  decoration,  even  when 
there  is  nuich  less  repetition  than  in  the  IJoscoreale  frescoes.  Also, 
the  Chinese  passion  for  nature  and  for  the  pastel  colours  in  nature, 
contrasts  strongly  with  the  Classic  preference  for  architecture  and 
strong  coloiu's. 

The  wall  paper  and  chintz  patterns  of  the  last  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century  illustrate  wonderfully  the  conuiiingling  of  the 
artistic  souls  of  the  East  and  of  the  West.  We  have,  indeed,  many 
bas-relief  effects  in  grey  monotones  and  duotones  which  are  purely  in 
the  Classic  vase-style  (Plate  IX,  2,  3),  yet  we  have  even  more  con- 
tinued-story scenes  done  in  the  Chinese  manner  but  with  Classic  motifs 
and  details.  Striking  examples  .of  this  mixed  style  are  the  patterns 
of  Huet  and  his  school. 

In  the  Empire  period  and  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
we  discover  papers  approaching  nearer  to  the  large  illusions  of  Euro- 
pean mural  paintings  and  tapestries,  and  the  Chinese  influence  dis- 
appears from  floral  patterns  like  Miiller's  famous  "Roses"  (Plate 
IX,  1),  and  from  verdures  (Plate  III,  1). 

In  drawing  the  distinction  between  the  Chinese  and  the  Classic, 
we  should  not  exaggerate  unduly  if  we  made  the  statement  that 
Chinese  decoration  is  produced  by  the  elimination  of  relief  and  shadow, 
Classic  decoration  by  repetition  and  balance.  Characteristic  of  the 
style  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  but  even  more  of  those  of  the  Louis 
XVI  and  Empire  periods  are  diaper  patterns  with  tiny  repeats,  the 
very  minuteness  of  which  prevents  the  monotony  from  being  irksome 
or  offensive. 

By  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  development  of 
roller  printing  was  producing  in  chintzes  and  wall  papers  the  same 
diminution  of  motifs  that  the  jacquard  attachment  was  producing  in 
damasks  and  brocades.  Also,  the  cheaper  methods  of  making  paper 
and  the  poverty  of  the  world  caused  by  the  Napoleonic  wars  favoured 
wall  papers  as  compared  with  chintzes.  Most  significant  of  all,  the 
blind  and  stupid  adoration  and  imitation  of  ancient  Classic  had  caused 
artists  to  neglect  decorative  art  in  their  yearnings  after  the  supposedly 
miraculous  mysteries  of  representative  art. 

Finally  came  the  voice  of  William  Morris,  crying  in  a  decorative 

383 


f 


f 


^^ 


/I- 


I ', 


„f 


X\ 


m\ 


h^ 


v 


■V': 


I 


'^W 


fc 


w  ^ 


^^1 


#; 


^^■. 


riate  XVI— THE  JUMKL  MANSION   PATEH 

A  modern  American  hand-blocked  reproduction  of  the  ancient  paper  tliat  adorned  the  Guard  Room  of  the 

Jumel  Mansion,  New  York,  at  tlie  time  when  Wasliington  used  it  as  headquarters 


384 


WALL  PAPERS 

desert.  He  worked  himself  with  the  bobbin  and  with  the  block,  in 
order  to  get  close  to  the  processes  and  the  techniques  apjjropriate  to 
the  materials.  He  designed  wall  papers  that  are  still  justly  in  vogue 
and  printed  from  the  original  blocks  (Plates  XII,  XIII),  and 
together  with  Walter  Crane  (Plates  X,  XIV),  revivified  wall  paper 
design  in  hand-blocked  papers  so  splendidly  that  the  result  was 
apparent  even  in  the  machine  papers. 

Fifteen  years  ago  the  wall  paper  industry  in  America  was  in 
a  sad  way,  and  justly.  The  patterns  were  mostly  bad  and  badly 
executed.  Wall  paper  manufacturers  and  salesmen  talked  price  so 
vociferously  that  quality  was  frequently  overlooked.  Nearly  all  of 
the  so-called  designers  were  mere  manipulators  of  pattern  and  utterly 
void  of  inspiration  and  of  art. 

Since  then  there  has  been  a  wonderful  uplift  (Plates  XVII, 
XX).  The  vagaries  of  Art  Nouveau,  which,  for  a  time,  hindered 
the  development  of  American  wall  papers  alarmingly,  have  been 
forgotten  and  from  the  idiocies  of  the  European  Futurists  we  have 
remained  aloof.  Instead  of  merely  rehashing  modern  European 
papers  our  designers  are  now  studying  the  documents  of  the  past — 
damasks,  brocades,  velvets,  chintzes,  tiles,  decorative  paintings  and 
tapestries  and  wall  papers — and  producing  patterns  adapted  for  the 
comparatively  small  repeats  of  roller  printing  today.  Freely  during 
the  past  ten  years  have  they  borrowed  from  contemporary  chintzes 
and  cretonnes,  sometimes  wisely,  but  often  with  a  slavish  fidelity  that 
encouraged  the  use  on  the  walls  in  paper,  of  the  same  pattern  that  in 
chintz  upholstered  and  draped  the  furniture  and  windows,  paralysing 
the  occupants  of  the  room  with  constant  bombardment  of  monotony. 

Monotony  is,  of  course,  an  easy  sin  for  wall  paper  to  commit. 
It  is  easy  to  paste  the  walls,  over  with  a  pattern  a  thousand  times 
repeated  of  which  even  a  hundred  repetitions  are  too  nmch.  It  is 
easy  to  make  too  large  and  too  noticeable  a  pattern  that  in  miniature 
is  inoffensive  or  even  pleasing.  It  is  easy,  in  trying  to  secure  hand- 
blocked  or  textile  effects,  to  exaggerate  the  oddities  whilst  losing  the 
virtues.  One  can  get  more  pattern  for  one's  money  in  wall  paper 
than  in  other  material.  Consequently,  most  apartments  and  houses 
overwhelm  one  with  the  noise  of  the  designs  papered  on  the  walls. 
The  dining  room  moans  in  dark  verdure ;  the  living  room  screams  with 
a  polychrome  trellis ;  the  reception  room  threatens  with  an  exaggerated 
stripe,  and  the  chambers  suffocate  with  tiresome  florals. 

385 


Plate  XVII— AN  AMERICAX  HAND-BLOCK KU  PAPER 

Ihe  finest  wall  paper  ever  made  in  the  United  States,  containing  120  oolours  each 

printed  slowly  and  laboriously  hy  hand 


386 


WALL  PAPERS 

No  wonder  that  niiiny  architects  and  decorators  turn  with  relief 
to  the  papers  that  emphasise  texture  and  minimise  pattern,  such  as 
the  ingrains  with  their  felt-like  surface;  the  grass  cloths  with  their 
reproduction  of  the  strong  line  effects  of  the  Japanese  originals;  the 
very  remarkable  imitations  of  plain  and  illuminated  leathers;  the 
flock  papers  with  their  coating  of  silk  or  woollen  powder  reproducing 
plain  and  figured  velvets;  tekko  and  the  other  papers  that  simulate 
satins  and  damasks  and  moires;  the  reproductions  of  verdure  tapes- 
tries, most  of  them  not  in  real  tapestry  hut  in  needlework  tapestry 
texture  produced  by  overprinting  with  short  vertical  and  horizontal 
lines;  and,  last  but  not  least,  the  imitations  of  marble  and  tiles,  and 
plaster,  and  stone.  Especially  are  the  tile  effects  appropriate  for  bath 
rooms,  and  the  Caen  stone  effects  for  halls  and  for  connecting  rooms 
that  must  be  "pulled  together"  with  a  background  that  has  architec- 
tural dignity.     ( For  tcwture  papers,  see  Plates  XVI 11  and  XIX) . 

Amongst  the  best  of  the  modern  American  papers  copied  from 
those  used  in  America  over  a  century  ago  are  the  ones  that  hang  in  the 
Octagon  room  of  the  Jumel  Mansion  (Plate  XVI);  the  Canton 
paper,  from  the  Lee  Mansion  in  Marblehead,  Mass.;  the  Cordova 
paper  from  the  Captain  Taylor  house  in  Chelsea,  Mass. ;  the  Cervera 
paper,  from  the  house  in  New  Hampshire  where  Mrs.  Larz  Anderson 
was  born;  the  Stanwood-Mansfield  paper,  in  Chinese  Chippendale 
design  from  the  Mansfield  house  in  Gloucester,  Mass.;  the  Paul 
Revere  paper  from  the  Paul  Revere  house  at  19  North  Square, 
Boston;  the  papers  in  the  Longfellow  birthplace,  Portland,  Maine. 

Papers  that  everyone  should  know  about  are  those  pictm-ing  the 
flags,  shields  and  banners  of  the  United  States  and  our  allies.  There 
is  a  magnificent  one  of  Old  Glory,  with  red  and  blue  in  flock,  which 
contrast  richly  with  the  white  stars  and  white  alternate  stripes  that 
are  in  plain  paper.  For  indoor  display  of  patriotism,  paper  flags  are 
not  only  effective  but  also  inexpensive,  especially  at  the  present  time 
when  bunting  is  in  such  small  supply  and  great  demand. 

HOW  WALL  PAPERS  ARE  MADE 

The  four  principal  methods  of  making  wall  paper  are:  (1)  with 
the  brush;  (2)  with  brush  and  stencil;  (3)  with  blocks;  (4)  with 
rollers.  The  brush  method,  inherited  from  the  Chinese,  is  seldom 
employed  in  Europe  or  America,  for  lack  of  artists  having  sufficient 
mechanical  dexterity.    The  stencil  method  is  used  principally  in  the 

387 


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Bp 

H  ' 

mmmmm^ 

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1 

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a.c.s 

■<  ■-    S  CI 

!!<  —  .£■  $ 

m 


(I)  All  Italian  damask  paper 


I 
I 


(J)    A   Louis   XV   paper  slainpeil 
ill  gold 


(;i)    A   Cliinese   Horal  with  broken- 
rib  pronnd 


!in^;i  lip  ii^ii  ii||! 


IMIL 


(4)   Based  on  embossed  leather  bid 
not  in  leather  colourings 


(.))   Chinese  banilioo  ])anel  effect 
on   liackeround 


((i)     A    Hococo    paper    reproduced 

from  the  hall  of  the  Longfellow 

home,   Portland.   Maine 


»/*■ 


(7)  Chenon^eau,  reproduction  of  a 
paper  originally  printed  in 
Paris,  and  hung  in  John  Bar- 
low's house,  Liberty  Street, 
New  York,  in  1859 


(8)  A  Rococo  paper  reproduced 
from  an  old  English  paper 
in  the  house  of  Stephen  A. 
Osborne,  East  Danvers,  Massa- 
chusetts, in  1858 


(9)  Louis  XV  Shepherdess,  repro- 
duced from  paper  hung  in  the 
old  Livingston  Manor  House  at 
Catskill,  New  York,  over  75 
years  ago 


Plate  XX—AMERICAN  WALL  PAPER  PATTERNS 


390 


WALL  PAPERS 

manufacture  of  i)icture  friezes,  many  of  whjch  are  in  every  way 
admirable  and  should  he  hetter  known  than  they  are.  Block  printing, 
which  is  done  entirely  by  hand,  is  intermediate  in  rapidity  and  effect 
between  brush  work  and  roller  work.  The  blocks  are  of  wood  and 
from  18  to  21  inches  square.  The  design  is  carved  in  relief  on  the 
surface,  sharp  lines  being  produced  by  copjier  ribbon  and  dots  by 
copper  pins  driven  into  the  wood.  There  is  a  separate  set  of  blocks 
for  each  colour  of  the  design,  and  each  colour  is  separately  printed 
and  the  roll  allowed  to  dry  before  the  next  colour  is  applied.  While 
the  rollers  used  in  the  machine  printing  of  chintz  and  cretonnes  are 
of  copper  with  the  pattern  incised,  the  rollers  used  in  the  machine 
printing  of  wall  paper  are  of  wood  with  the  pattern  in  relief.  The 
outlines  are  formed  by  copper  ribbon  driven  into  the  wood,  and  the 
body  of  the  design  is  filled  in  with  felt.  The  dots  are  formed  with 
copper  pins,  as  in  the  hand  blocks. 

In  roller-printed  papers,  the  size  of  the  pattern  unit  (the  repeat) 
is  absolutely  limited  by  the  size  of  the  roller  (its  width  and  circum- 
ference). In  block-printed  papers,  whilst  there  is  theoretically  no 
limit  to  the  size  of  the  design,  practically  it  is  limited  bj'  the  cost  of 
the  blocks,  which  in  very  large  scenic  and  picture  papers  run  into  the 
lumdreds.  With  the  brush,  there  is  no  reason  for  any  repeat  at  all 
except  such  as  is  called  for  by  the  laws  of  good  taste. 

Machine-printed  papers,  on  account  of  their  very  limitations, 
are  safer  for  the  average  paperhanger  to  use.  Picture  and  large- 
pattern  papers  are  difficult  to  space  and  arrange  in  rooms  much  cut 
up  by  windows  and  doors  and  often  come  out  badly  at  the  corners. 
But  even  with  machine-printed  papers  it  is  possible  to  secure  panelled 
and  frieze  and  crown  effects  by  the  use  of  appliques,  borders  and 
friezes  and  detached  motifs  being  printed  on  a  separate  roll,  cut  apart 
with  a  very  ingenious  applique  cutting  machine  and  pasted  around, 
above  or  over  the  regular  side  wall  paper.  The  development  of  these 
applique  papers  is  of  recent  date  and  due  principally  to  an  American 
finn  who  have  made  a  noteworthy  success  of  "carrying  coals  to  New- 
castle;" in  other  words,  of  exporting  wall  papers  to  London.  The 
same  firm's  leather  papers  also  deserve  especial  mention  because  of 
their  unusual  merit  (Plate  XIX). 

With  wall  papers  are  very  properly  grouped  those  cloths  that 
are  specially  sized  or  prepared  by  different  manufacturers  for  appli- 
cation with  paste  by  paperhangers.     Some  of  them  with  glazed  sur- 

891 


(1)  City  Hall  Park,  New  York 


(i)   The  Statue  of  Liberty 

Plate  XXI^MODKRN  PATHIOTIC  WAI.I.  PAPI'.KS 
Designed  in  1917  by  Charles  Jeltrup,  a  Freneli  designer  working  in  Xew  York 


392 


WALL  PAPERS 

face  are  for  bath  rooms  and  kitchens,  and  some  are  adapted  to  serve 
as  ground  -for  decorative  painting  or  stencilhng.  Some  emphasise 
the  texture  of  the  basic  mushn  or  canvas  or  burhvp,  whilst  others  add 
metal  effects  or  imitate  the  texture  of  leather  or  Japanese  grass  cloth, 
or  are  ovei-printed  with  small  wall  paper  patterns.  The  surface  effect 
of  these  prepared  cloths  is  much  softer  and  more  agreeable  than  that 
of  most  plasters  and  wall  papers. 

Credit  for  illustrations:  Plates  I,  IV  to  \I1I,  XV,  Harry  Wearne;  Plate  11,  the  Metro- 
politan Sluscnni  of  Art;  Plates  III,  IX,  A.  1..  Diainent  &  Co.,  American  representatives  of 
Dcfosse  &  Kiirtli;  Plates  X,  XII  to  XIV,  A.  K.  Hiilkeley,  Anieriean  rejjresentativc  of  Morris  & 
Company;  Plates  XVI  to  XX,  M.  H.  Hirge  &  .Sons  Co'. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

DRAPERY  AND  FURNITURE  TRIMMINGS 

GiMPs^  Galloons,  Braids,  Borders,  Cords,   Tassels,  Tufts  and 
Other  Upholstery  and  Drapery  Ornaments 

Trimmings  are  made-up  ornaments  applied  to  costumes  as  well 
as  to  upholstery.  The  French  word  is  passementerie,  and  the  French 
excel  in  the  creation  of  them.  The  French  also  understand  how  to 
use  them,  and  seldom  err  on  the  side  of  "too  much"  or  "too  little." 

To  some  pretentious  and  contentious  Americans,  trinmiings  are 
taboo.  They  do  not  regard  them  as  sufficiently  "structural."  They 
maintain  that  whilst  self-fringes  are  legitimate,  a  sewed-on  fringe  is 
insincere  and  dishonest.  In  other  words,  they  think  in  phrases 
instead  of  in  facts,  and  trust  to  memory  instead  of  taste  for  their 
decorative  decisions. 

The  growth  of  the  trimming  business  in  New  York  during  the 
past  ten  years  has  been  extraordinary.  The  improvement  in 
designs  has  also  been  extraordinary,  and  has  been  accompanied  by 
equal  improvement  in  processes  of  manufacture,  especially  in  dye- 
ing and  matching  colours.  The  rampant  tassels  and  fringes  that  once 
were  admired  as  "rich  and  elegant,"  have  long  since  been  removed  from 
the  sample  lines  and  are  illustrated  on  Plates  IX  and  X  merely  to 
show  from  what  depths  we  have  risen. 

The  most  numerous  ancient  trimmings  that  have  survived  are 
those  made  in  Egypt  from  the  third  to  the  tenth  centuries,  and  called 
Coptic,  from  the  native  name  of  the  country.  These  Coptic  trimmings 
are  borders  and  galloons,  mostly  figured  in  tapestry  weave,  made  for 
application  on  garments,  or  woven  as  an  integral  part  of  theuL  Some 
of  the  garments  are  self-fringed  and  others  have  tapestry  panels 
framed  in  bands  of  long  loops  of  linen  wefts,  which  look  more  like 
multiple  bullion  fringes  than  like  the  uncut  velvet  which  they  really 
are.    Similar  tapestry  borders  and  galloons  were  also  made  in  Amer- 

394 


i}]g|AQflizA(flIi//iiflfli!iu 


Plate  I— FRIXGES  DE  LUXE 
395 


^^l 


DRAPERY  AND  UPHOLSTERY  TRIMMINGS 

ic.i  centuries  ago  by  the  Peruvians,  and  there  are  important  collec- 
tions of  them  in  the  Metrojjolitan  and  other  American  and  European 
museums,  notably  in  the  Natural  History  Museum  of  New  York. 
The  fringes  on  the  Peru\'ian  examples  are  noteworthy.  One  of  them 
shows  a  double  row  of  pendent  triple  tassels. 

The  evidence  for  trimmings  earlier  than  the  Coptic  is  mainly 
pictorial  and  literary.  The  ancient  Assyrian  bas-reliefs  show  trim- 
mings not  only  on  royal  robes,  but  especially  on  the  trappings  of  the 
horses,  which  are  (juite  as  elaborate  with  large  tassels  as  is  the  ancient 
Japanese  armour  displayed  at  the  Metropolitan  and  other  nuiseums. 
Greek  and  Roman  costmnes  were  less  adorned  than  those  of  the 
Orient,  but  from  the  Greek  vase-paintings  we  can  see  clearly  that 
woven  galloons  were  in  common  use.  The  Egyptian  statues  and 
painted  reliefs  show  us  that  long  before  the  Assyrians  flourished, 
trimmings  were  used  to  make  beautiful  Egyptian  costumes  and  espe- 
cially Egyptian  head-dresses. 

This  evidence,  however,  concerns  costume  trimmings.  Evidence 
about  ancient  upholstery  and  drapery  trimmings  is  conspicuous  by  its 
absence.  Even  in  the  famous  sixth  century  mosiac  portraits  of 
Justinian  and  Theodora  and  tlieir  courts,  still  preserved  at  Ravenna, 
in  Italy,  few  of  the  trimmings  adorn  the  draperies.  Byzantine  paint- 
ings and  ivories,  which  give  us  so  liiany  costume  tassels  and  galloons, 
are  comparatively  silent  about  upholstery.  Not  imtil  we  reach  the 
Gothic  fifteenth  century  do  the  tapestries  and  the  illuminated  manu- 
scripts and  other  paintings  pictui'e  adetpiately  the  kind  of  fringes  and 
galloons  and  tassels  employed  to  adorn  cano{)ied  thrones  and  beds, 
and  royal  tents  and  carriages.  Most  of  tliese  trinunings  were  rich 
with  gold  and  were,  of  course,  used  in  harmony  with  the  slender 
vertical  effects  of  the  Gothic  style  until,  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
centiny,  Renaissance  horizontal  bands  and  borders  began  to  introduce 
classic  balance.  The  best  illustration  of  fifteenth  century  tassels  with 
which  I  am  acquainted  is  in  one  of  Jean  Foucquet's  manuscript 
miniatures.  It  shows  square  velvet  pillows  carrying  a  heavy  tassel 
at  each  corner. 

The  heyday  of  trimmings,  and  the  period  from  which  most 
ancient  ones  have  been  preserved,  is  the  Baroque  seventeenth  century. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  people  began  to  get  tii-ed 
of  the  flatness  and  straight  lines  and  narrow  plain  and  tasselled  fringes 
of  the  Renaissance  and  endeavoured  in  large  ciu'ves  and  bold  reliefs  to 

897 


Plate  III— VELVET  FIGURED  GIMPS 
398 


Plate  IV-VEI.VKT  FIGURKU  BOHDKUS 
399 


Plate  V— OPENWOHK  GIMPS 
400 


DRAPERY  AND  UPHOLSTERY  TRIMMINGS 

express  their  idea  of  the  principles  that  should  dominate  art.  Rubens 
and  Rembrandt  are  the  representative  painters,  and  Bernini  and 
Borromini  the  representative  architects.  All  owed  much  to  Michel- 
angelo, whose  sculptural  genius  forced  the  sculptural  point. of  view 
into  the  fields  of  architecture  and  painting  and  trimmings,  as  well  as 
sculpture.  Indeed,  the  Barocjue  style  of  the  seventeenth  century 
might  justly  be  described  as  the  sculptural  style,  distinguished  by 
passion  for  a  wealth  of  ornament  in  relief.  During  the  Renaissance 
the  facades  of  houses  had  been  comparatively  flat,  but  as  soon  as  the 
Baroque  influence  became  dominant  every  Avindow  had  to  have  a 
heavy  pediment  or  tabernacle  all  its  own,  and  buildings  fairly  bristled 
with  heavy  architectural  mouldings.  The  point  of  view  was  quite  like 
that  of  the  architect  who  recently  in  Country  IJfc  in  America  claimed 
that  wood  panelling  is  the  logical  covering  for  the  interior  w^Us  of  a 
room,  "because  the  mouldiiigs  cast  a  shadow."  Naturally,  the  flat 
ornament  of  tapestries  and  wall  papers  would  be  quickly  defeated  in 
a  shadow  contest. 

Being  the  sculptm-al  style  /;«/•  eoccellence ,  Baroque  is  naturally 
the  style  of  "Tassels  Triumphant"  and  "Fringes  Rampant"  (Plates 
IX  and  X).  Not  until  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  could 
the  world  be  persuaded  again  to  adopt  the  monstrosities  of  the  seven- 
teenth. But  in  adopting  them  the  nineteenth  century  lost  the  symmet- 
rical dignitj'  of  the  originals,  and  plastered  the  ancient  models  over 
with  fussy  details  and  detached  gewgaws  which  the  seventeenth 
century  would  never  have  accepted. 

In  the  minds  of  the  vulgar,  not  to  like  the  style  of  I^ouis  XIV 
is  a  proof  of  good  taste  and  democratic  simplicity.  Even  more  than 
the  Rococo  of  Ijouis  XV  is  it  disdained  by  the  decorative  penny-a- 
liners  of  the  public  prints.  Yet,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  style  of  Louis 
XIV,  though  massive  and  magnificent,  is  so  well  balanced  and  justly 
proportioned  and  exquisitely  executed  as  to  be  a  liberal  education  for 
those  who  wish  to  put  themselves  en  rappori  with  the  best  that  has 
been  thought  and  done.  Louis  XIV  fringes  and  tassels  and  borders 
are  the  result  of  good  taste  winnowing  out  the  vices  and  preserving  the 
virtues  of  Italian  and  Flemish  Baroque;  and  Louis  XIV  trimmings 
are  vastly  superior  to  those  of  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

With  the  eighteenth  centm-y  the  world  of  styles  received  a  new 
orientation.  The  impulse  away  from  the  heavy  classicism  of  Baroque 
towards  natin-e,  and  towards  Chinese  art,  introduced  the  unsymmet- 

401 


Plate  VI— TASSEL  F.DGIKGS 
403 


Plate  \ai— BUM.ION  FUINGES 
403 


i 


W.V^.!;, Ji.-"-,' '-'  '^9m^^-^MUSUR£> 


i 


Plate  VIII— CUT  FRINGES 
404 


DRAPERY  AND  UPHOLSTERY  TRIMMINGS 

rical  forms  of  Rococo,  lowered  the  relief  effects  and  made  them 
uneven,  and,  by  lessening  the  scale  of  decoration,  made  interiors  and 
furniture  more  liuman  and  more  homelike.  The  trimmings  of  Louis 
XV  are  lighter  in  weight  and  in  colour,  and  less  regular  in  shape,  than 
those  of  Louis  XIV. 

With  Louis  XVI  the  world  returned  to  straight  lines  and  to 
classicism,  hut  retained  all  the  delicate  pastel  colours  and  the  exquisite 
grace  that  under  the  Chinese  influence  had  developed  in  France  in  the 
reign  of  Louis  XV.  I>ouis  XVI  trimmings  are  slender  and  flat  and 
straight  as  compared  with  those  that  preceded  them,  and  though 
avowedly  copying  ancient  Classic  and  Renaissance,  are  less  emphatic 
than  either.  Rut,  of  course,  there  are  numy  fringes  and  tassels  which 
are  just  as  good  I^ouis  XVI  as  they  are  Renaissance.  Louis  XVI 
and  the  corresponding  English  style  of  Adam  preferred  cut  fringes, 
usually  with  delicate  ornamentation,  to  the  elaborate  bullion  fringes 
of  the  Raroque  seventeenth  century,  and  of  Regence  and  Georgian 
Rococo.  Heavy  bullion  fringes  and  heavy  tassels  came  into  vogue 
again  under  the  Empire,  and  under  the  Second  Empire  were  exag- 
gerated into  grotesque  perversions  of  the  types  illustrated  on  Plates 
IX  and  X. 

At  this  point  it  is,  perhaps,  well  to  explain  that  a  bullion  fringe 
is  uncut  and  has  twisted  loops,  so  that  as  compared  with  a  cut  fringe 
it  is  full  of  curves,  and  is  heavy-looking.  It  is  the  sort  of  fringe  that 
would  naturally  be  most  popidar  in  a  Raroque  period. 

The  most  important  single  word  in  the  world  of  trimmings  is 
gimp.  Gimp  cord  is  the  dominant  featin*e  of  the  majority  of  uphol- 
stery and  drapery  trimmings,  which  without  it  would  lack  body. 
Gimp  has  the  same  initial  meaning  as  the  French  guii)ure,  which  is 
a  cord  whipped  (guipe)  or  twist-covered  with  silk.  Rut  gimp  has 
introduced  bewilderment  into  the  minds  of  many  by  broadening  its 
meaning  from  the  twist-covered  cords  to  the  ribbons  and  galloons 
made  by  twisting  and  braiding  and  sewing  and  crocheting  and  weav- 
ing them  together.  Galloons  are  apt  to  be  made  of  metal,  and  the 
word  suggests  military  costume  trimmings  even  when  it  falls  from 
upholstery  lips.  Rraid  suggests  the  process  of  braiding  or  pleating, 
though  often  used  for  wo\'en  ribbons  and  tapes  whose  texture 
resembles  that  of  braid.  Very  wide  gimp  braids  are  often  called 
borders. 

The  most  important  machines  in  a  trimming  factory  are  the  spin- 

40.') 


<  S 
X  E 


C/2  ■ 


.  DRAPERY  AND  UPHOLSTERY  TRIMMINGS 

ning  alley  and  the  hand  looms,  the  former  for  making  gimp  cords, 
the  latter  for  making  gimp  braids.  In  weaving  some  of  the  more 
complicated  gimps,  the  jacquard  attachment  is  used.  Generally,  how- 
ever, treadles  lift  and  depress  the  slender  silk  warps  which  bind  and 
cover  the  cords,  and  which  sometimes  are  looped  over  wires  to  form 
cut  or  uncut  velvet  figures.  The  coarse  cords  of  the  weft  are  usually 
passed  back  and  forth  by  hand  in  a  small  shuttle.  In  making  fringed 
gimps  the  weft  cords  loop  over  a  hook  while  they  are  being  bound  by 
the  warps  into  the  heading.  About  both  the  loom  and  the  all-hand 
processes  employed  in  a  trimming  factory,  there  is  an  infinite  variety 
which  is  fascinating  and  even  bewildering.  The  possibilities  seem 
endless. 

Endless  also  are  the  uses  of  gimps,  not  only  of  the  cheap  and 
insignificant  and  often  perishable  ones  carried  in  stock  in  large  quan- 
tities by  upholstery  and  drapery  departments,  but  also  of  permanently 
dyed  and  artistically  conceived  and  skilfully  executed  gimps  like 
most  of  those  selected  for  illustration.  It  is  not  only  a  question  of 
hiding  tacks  on  upholstered  furniture  and  box  lambrequins;  it  is  also 
a  question  of  introducing  line  and  colour  effects  that  are  an  impor- 
tant part  of  the  composition  and  that  make  the  chair  seem  more  like 
a  chair,  and  the  lambrequin  more  like  a  lambrequin,  and  the  lamp 
shade  more  like  a  lamp  shade.  Certainly  the  "silk  fringe  that  depends 
from  many  large  silk  shades  not  only  seems  appropriate  but  is  also 
eminently  useful  from  the  illumination  point  of  view.  Bell  cords 
elaborately  tasselled  are  no  longer  the  sine  qua  non  of  a  pretentious 
parlour,  even  of  a  hotel  parlour,  but  cords  and  gimps  are  freely 
employed  to  hold  back  draped  curtains.  Pillows,  unfortunately,  are 
now  seldom  tasselled,  but  silk  and  metal  gimps  often  finish  the  seamed 
edges.  The  stems  of  chandeliers  are  still  twisted  over  with  silk  cords 
and  often  tasselled,  sometimes  above  the  lamps,  sometimes  below. 
Seldom  do  we  use  the  elaborate  canopies  beneath  which  the  beds  of 
our  forefathers  groaned,  yet  in  the  completion  of  sofas  and  couches 
and  wall  panels  we  often  find  trimmings  necessary,  whilst  some  of  our 
best  architects  and  decorators  bestow  much  time  and  trouble  upon 
balls  and  cords  and  tassels  for  the  shades  and  curtains  and  portieres, 
and  even  for  the  mirrors  and  pictures  of  fine  interiors. 

It  is  much  like  eating  with  your  knife.  If  you  are  merely  a  rich 
owner,  or  an  amateur  or  uneducated  decorative  salesman,  cheap  trim- 
mings of  weighted  silk  or  mercerised  cotton  or  plain  cotton  may  seem 

407 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

to  you  good  enough  to  adorn  the  most  elegant  homes;  but  if  your 
knowledge  has  been  extended  by  the  successful  experience  of  others, 
you  will  have  in  trimmings  another  detail  to  think  about  and  worry 
over,  and  you  will  endeavour  by  the  study  of  ancient  books  and 
engravings  and  paintings  to  supplement  the  evidence  that  is  accessible 
in  the  form  of  ancient  trimmings  that  are  still  preserved  to  be  studied. 
In  this  way  trimmings  will  acquire  for  you  a  deep  decorative  meaning. 

Unfortunately,  the  collections  of  trimmings  that  exist  in  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  and  in  Cooper  Museum  are  compara- 
tively small  and  unimportant,  whilst  those  in  Dresden  and  Berlin  and 
Vienna  are  full  of  "horrible  examples"  developed  in  the  nineteenth 
century  from  Baroque  originals.  Furthermore,  the  literature  on  the 
subject  is  scanty,  and  the  treatment  in  books  bearing  broader  titles 
is  faulty  and  inadequate.  Invaluable  to  the  trade  and  consequently 
to  the  public  would  be  a  careful  study  of  the  relation  of  laces  and 
embroideries  to  upholstery  and  drapery  trimmings,  furnishing  as  they 
have  so  many  motifs  that  are  still  employed  by  the  makers  of  gimps. 
Just  as  cutwork  in  Italy  developed  into  full-fledged  needlepoint  lace, 
so  lace  insertions  and  edgings  and  embroidered  and  woven  borders 
and  knotted  and  other  self -fringes  were  thickened  and  strengthened 
with  gimps  into  trimmings  easy  of  application,  specialised  for  the  use 
to  which  they  are  put,  and  costing  from  fifty  cents  to  fifty  dollars  a 
yard. 

Plate  I  shows  three  elaborate  fringes  of  unusual  excellence.  The 
upper  is  of  golden  yellow  silk  figured  with  green  and  black,  for  appli- 
cation on  light-weight  fabrics.  The  middle  one,  for  damasks  and  bro- 
cades, has  a  heading  of  gimp  lattice  work  figured  with  velvet,  and  a 
bullion  skirt  with  hangers  of  silk-covered  flat  copper  wire.  The  bottom 
one  is  a  heavy  fringe  for  velvets,  with  heading  of  red  velvet  on  gold 
warp  ground,  and  skirt  of  tassels  strung  one  above  another.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  the  weave  of  loom-made  gimp  braids  tends 
to  produce  rep  grounds. 

Plate  II  shows  a  group:  (1)  a  curtain  loop;  (3)  a  flat  silk- 
twisted  skirt  with  tassel  ends  hung  by  two  cords  from  a  cross  bar; 
(2)  and  (4)  show  two  Chinese  tassels  of  American  design,  one  con- 
structed on  a  wooden,  the  other  on  a  plaster  form;  (5)  a  Venetian 
tassel.  Plate  III  illustrates  velvet  figured  gimps;  Plate  IV,  velvet 
figured  borders;  Plate  V,  openwork  gimps;  Plate  VI,  tassel  edgings; 
Plate  VII,  bullion  fringes;  Plate  VIII,  cut  fringes. 

408 


DRAPERY  AND  UPHOLSTERY  TRIMMINGS 

Plate  XI  shows  fringes  from  the  collection  of  the  ancient  Eng- 
lish decorative  firm  of  Morant,  who,  it  is  said,  never  sold  a  sample 
and  for  many  years  confined  their  business  to  reproductions  from 
their  ancient  sample  line:  No.  1,  in  red  silk  with  ball  and  vellum 
fancy  liangers ;  No.  2,  the  reverse  of  a  red  and  gold  spaced  fringe  with 
running  tied  trellis ;  No,  3,  in  red  and  gold  twist,  shaped  and  tufted ; 
No.  4,  in  cream  terra  cotta,  with  knotted  tufts ;  No.  5,  in  red,  with  a 
gold  twist  trellis  front ;  No.  6,  a  red  silk  galloon,  with  velvet  figures, 
tufted  top  edging  and  tufted  fringe  crocheted  and  tufted;  No.  7,  in 
cream  and  rose,  red  and  green,  trellised  and  tufted;  No.  8,  a  green 
fringe,  shaped  and  tufted. 

In  the  introduction  to  the  catalogue  of  the  Morant  collection  of 
velvets,  damasks,  brocades,  etc.,  M.  Jourdain,  the  well-known  Eng- 
lish writer  on  embroidery,  lets  fall  the  following  remarks  anent 
trimmings : 

The  stools  at  Knole,  besides  the  upholstered  seat,  have  the  frame- 
work of  wood  tightly  covered  with  velvet,  and  the  feet  trimmed  with 
a  short  tufted  fringe.  One  of  the  Knole  X  chairs  shows  the  character- 
istic fringe  with  a  trellis  heading.  The  other  X  chair  has  arms,  seat 
and  stretcher  ornamented  with  a  deep  fringe,  fastened  by  large  gilt 
nails,  whilst  a  short  tufted  fringe  finishes  the  seams  of  cushions,  arms 
and  seats.  The  Elizabethan  fringes  were  straight ;  also  those  of  James 
I  and  Charles  I,  but  shorter  in  the  latter  reign.  Handsome  fringes 
are  characteristic  of  Jacobean  upholstery,  extremely  thick  and  of 
twisted  silk,  frequently  with  headings  of  figured  velvet  and  knotting. 
Full  tasselled  fringes  came  in  with  the  Restoration ;  the  short-stranded 
tassels  were  carried  around  the  top  and  sides  of  the  tall  padded  backs 
coming  into  use,  whilst  the  back  and  chair  seat  have  the  hanging  fringe, 
which  is  often  caught  up  in  festoons.  In  the  reign  of  William  and 
Mary  a  flat  galloon  often  took  the  place  of  the  full  fringe  and  event- 
ually displaced  it,  and  this  galloon  was  used  to  form  panels  upon  the 
upholstery,  which  was  often  of  two  colours  of  velvet,  with  the  galloon 
between.  Gold  fringes  were  frequently  used  in  great  houses.  During 
the  Queen  Anne  period  the  movable  upholstered  seat  was  sunk,  and 
therefore  nails,  galloons  and  braids  became  unnecessary  features.  In 
1756  Mrs.  Delany  writes  that  "Lady  Hillsborough  has  a  very  good 
house  furnished  all  with  yellow  damask  with  an  open  border  of 
burnished  silver  that  edges  all  the  hangings."  Hepplewhite,  in  the 
last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  says  that  leather  seats  and  backs 

409 


Plate  X— KUIXGKS   UA.VIPAXT 
These  were  once  greatly  admired 


410 


DRAPERY  AND  UPHOLSTERY  TRIMMINGS 

should  be  tied  down  with  tassels  of  silk  or  thread.  A  bed  at  Hare- 
wood,  of  about  1 774,  shows  the  drapery  of  the  deep  valance  weighted 
with  its  heavy  straight  fringe,  and  also  the  cords  with  large  tassels, 
which  were  a  feature  of  the  upholstery  of  the  period.  A  second  bed 
in  the  same  house,  which  was  designed  by  Robert  Adam,  has  two 
valances  of  velvet:  a  plain  upi^er  one,  scalloped  and  fringed  and  hung 
at  every  lap  with  heavy  tassels,  and  a  lower  draped  valance  caught 
up  in  the  centre  by  cord  and  tassels,  as  in  the  window  draperies  of 
Sheraton's  plan  of  a  drawing  room  (1793).  Sheraton's  book  also 
shows  several  other  similar  arrangements  of  festoons,  heavy  fringes, 
cords  and  tassels.  During  the  Empire  period  in  England,  the  chair 
back  and  seat  were  stuffed  and  braids  and  borders  framed  the  cushion. 
Braids  were  used  to  hide  the  nails,  and  ball  fringe  was  nmch  used. 

Plate  XII  shows  two  interior  views  from  the  residence  of  James 
Deering,  at  Miami,  Florida,  planned  and  decorated  by  Paul  Chalfin. 
I  introduce  them  because  this  residence  represents  the  best  that  has 
been  accomplished  in  original  trinunings  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
Inspired  by  familiarity  with  French  trimmings,  ancient  and  modern, 
Mr.  Chalfin,  with  the  enthusiastic  co-operation  of  an  American  manu- 
factui'er,  created  scores  of  fringes  and  tassels  and  galloons  and  edg- 
ings that  adequately  finish  furniture  and  draperies  of  surpassing 
merit.  Especially  are  the  colour  eflfects  noteworthy.  It  goes  almost 
without  saying  that  a  man  of  Mr.  Chalfin's  experience  and  training, 
which  are  none  the  less  practical  because  backgrounded  by  scholarship 
and  travel,  would  employ  gimps  and  braids  and  fringes  effectively  to 
accentuate  the  outlines  of  damask  wall  paiiels,  silk  covers  and  spreads, 
valances  and  side  curtains.  Rut  he  has  done  more  than  this;  without 
losing  any  of  the  desired  line  and  pattern  effects,  he  has  so  composed 
the  colours  of  his  trimmings,  and  so  contrasted  and  blended  them  with 
the  colours  of  the  sin-faces  they  adorn,  that  the  result  is  colour  harmony 
as  vivacious  as  it  is  complete.  Let  those  who  will  lean  on  the  charts 
fathered  or  grandfathered  by  Chevreul;  Mr.  Chalfin  has  proved  in 
the  actual  materials  that  for  matching  colours  most  of  the  so-called 
chromatic  laws  end  where  good  taste  begins. 

Amongst  the  numerous  trimmings  in  the  Ijouis  XVI  Chinese 
room  illustrated  on  Plate  XII,  the  two  varieties  of  Chinese  tassels  are 
prominent.  These  two  tassels,  one  shaped  over  a  plaster,  the  other 
over  a  wooden  model,  and  illustrated  in  detail  on  Plate  II,  are,  of 
course,  totally  unlike  any  tassels  ever  conceived  by  the  Chinese  them- 

411 


T3-'f*i-*x 


im 


''^'l.!>iiini 


jg^^% 


Reading  t'ruin  top:     Nos.  1,  3,  5,  7  Reading  from  top:     Nos.  2,  4,  6,  8 

Plate  XI— FRINGES  FROM  THE  MORANT  COLLECTION 

413 


DRAPERY  AND  UPHOLSTERY  TRIMMINGS 

selves,  who  like  them  long  and  slender  and  cut;  but  they  do  most 
admirably  fit  into  Europeanised  Chinoiserie  of  the  type  that  dom- 
inated France  and  England  in  the  eighteenth  century.  The  shape  of 
this  tassel  is  based  on  the  keynote  of  Chinese  architecture,  the  roof, 
derived  from  the  ancient  square  tents  with  centre  and  corner  posts, 
which  in  China  preceded  more  nearly  permanent  buildings  of  wood 
and  tiles.    The  oval  pendants  complete  this  idea  admirably. 

The  other  interior  on  Plate  XII,  built  around  an  ancient  iron 
bed,  and  rhyming  with  Louis  XV  rather  than  Louis  XVI,  is  free 
from  Chinese  suggestion  but  trimmed  with  equal  completeness.  The 
embroidered  bell  pull  and  its  tassel  are  ancient,  though  they  agitate 
the  lover  of  modern  electric  candles;  and  the  painted  satin  that  forms 
the  ground  of  the  bed  draperies  is  also  ancient;  but  the  other  fabrics 
and  all  the  trimmings  were  made  in  America.  The  tassels  on  the  plat- 
form spread  are  elaborate  and  beautiful.  The  large  rosettes  on  the 
pulls  that  hold  the  bed  ciu-tains  are  intricate  with  colour  which  picks 
out  and  gives  a  thrill  to  the  faded  tones  of  the  adjacent  painted  pat- 
tern. The  numerous  fringes  speak  for  themselves,  even  though  repro- 
duced on  such  a  small  scale,  and  without  colour.  Visible,  too,  in  the 
illustrations  are  the  tassels  and  other  trimmings  of  the  window 
draperies,  and  the  gimps  that  adorn  the  skirt  of  the  bed ;  but  the  tiny 
tufts  that  supplement  the  edging  of  the  net  over-spread  hardly  show 
at  all,  though  significant,  even  important,  in  the  colour  scheme  of  the 
bed  as  a  whole. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting,  at  any  rate  the  most  generous,  use 
of  tassels  in  this  residence  is  in  the  room  where  they  hang  from  trellised 
cords  to  form  the  valance  of  the  window  draperies,  wliich  down  below 
they  tie  back  in  pairs,  whilst  from  the  lighting  fixtures  of  the  ceiling 
they  depend  beneath  each  candle  and  the  centre. 

Amongst  books  on  the  subject  of  trimmings  the  most  pretentious 
are  two  portfohos  published,  one  in  Dresden,  the  other  in  Austria, 
and  both  illustrating  the  taste  of  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago.  The 
German  one  is  entitled  "Posamenten  fiir  Mobel  und  Dekorationen," 
and  was  published  by  the  Dresden  "Zeitschrift  fur  Posamenten- 
Industrie."  The  Austrian  one  was  published  by  S.  O.  Czeiger. 
Volume  III  of  Emanuel  Bocher's  "Manuel  des  travaux  a  I'aiguille" 
is  devoted  to  tassels  (glands);  and  Volume  IV  to  cords,  braids  and 
knots  (conies,  tresses,  nwuds),  with  detailed  description  and  illustra- 
tions of  how  to  make  them.    The  small  collection  of  trimmings  in  the 

413 


"S  '^  -r 


GO 


-co- 
o  c  = 

X   +-     — 

its  K 
.5E    . 


y.\ 

X 

J5       5  5 

9    ^^1 

—       c  ^  t.* 


-::  =  < 


DRAPERY  AND  UPHOLSTERY  TRIMMINGS 

Nuremberg  Museiun  isiisted  in  the  catalogue  of  "Stichereien,  spitaen 
und  pozamentier-arbeiten."  The  article  on  "La  Passementerie,"  by 
P.  Verneuil  in  Volume  XXIII  (1908)  of  the  magazine  "Art  et 
Decoration,"  treats  the  archseology  of  the  subject  interestingly,  and 
then  illustrates  and  describes  ultra-modern  trimmings.  In  .the 
Connoisseur  for  1909  there  is  a  short  article  on  Spanish  trimmings 
entitled  "Puntas  and  Passementeries."  Macquoid,  in  his  monumental 
work  on  English  furniture,  illustrates  many  gimps  and  fringes  as 
they  appear  in  actual  use  on  ancient  chairs  and  couches,  and,  of  course, 
the  drapery  portfolios  of  Lenoir  and  many  others  show  trimmings  as 
part  of  curtains,  portieres  and  lambrequins. 

The  author  is  indebted   for  Plates  I  to  VIII   and  XII  to  Edward  Maag;  for  Plates  IX 
and  X  to  S.  O.  Czeiger;  for  Plate  XI  to  the  Morant  collection.  • 


CHAPTER  XX 

TOOLED  AND  ILLUMINATED  LEATHERS 

Texture  is  Latin  for  weave.  Texture  means  surface  qualities 
as  distinguished  from  colour  and  form.    Texture  is  only  skin  deep. 

Texture  means  those  qualities  that  in  textiles  are  pre-eminent, 
reaching  perfection  in  damasks  and  brocades  and  velvets  and  tap- 
estries. It  is  only  by  analogy  that  we  speak  of  the  texture  of  wood 
and  marble  and  metal.  Compared  with  textiles,  wood  and  marble 
and  metal  have  little  texti  re. 

But  with  leather  it  is  different.  Leather  seems  even  to  surpass 
the  textiles  on  their  own  ground.  Leather,  when  shaped  with  dies 
and  stippled  and  carved  with  punches  and  chisels,  and  then  illuminated 
in  colours,  especially  with  gold  and  other  rich  lacquers  applied  upon 
a  ground  of  silver  leaf,  acquires  a  texture  that  in  luminosity  outshines 
the  surface  of  damask  and  velvet,  and  in  richness  does  not  pale  before 
tapestry  or  brocade. 

Of  coin-se,  there  are  leathers  and  leathers.  Some  of  them  are 
mere  painted  imitations  of  the  reality.  Some  of  them  have  no  texture 
at  all,  and  might  just  as  well  be  painted  canvas  or  paper,  like  the 
Japanese  and  wall  paper  leathers. 

But  with  the  imitations,  near  or  remote,  this  account  has  nothing 
to  do.  All  of  the  leathers  illustrated  are  ?-eal  leathers,  made  rich  in 
texture  by  actual  tooling  and  illumination. 

Extraordinarily  rich  and  beautiful  is  the  leather  illustrated  in 
colour  on  Plate  I,  from  the  house  of  Titian,  the  famous  Venetian 
painter  of  the  sixteenth  century.  This  jjiece  of  leather  was  brought  to 
this  country  by  the  late  Henry  G.  Marquand,  president  of  the  board 
of  trustees  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  to  whom  was  due  the 
attempt  to  develop  in  America  the  art  of  tooling  and  illuminating 
leather  in  the  ancient  fashion,  an  attempt  made  successful  by  the 
co-operation  of  the  great  architect  and  decorator,  Stanford  AVhite. 

4,16 


Plate  I— ANCli:XT  ITAIJAN  I.KATHI-'.R  FROM  TH|-.  HOUSK  OF  TITIAN,  BROUGHT 
TO  THIS  COUNTRY  HY  HKNRY  C.  MARQUANI) 


417 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

The  texture  of  this  piece  of  leather  is  a  revehition  to  those  who 
know  only  leathers  of  modern  inspiration.  The  design  in  gold  has 
been  exalted  against  the  flat,  blue  groinid  marvellously  by  the  tooled-in 
lines  and  tiny  circles  and  raised  outlines.  In  nothing  but  leather,  and 
in  nothing  but  yellow  and  blue  lacquers  on  silvered  ground,  could 
such  colour  and  such  texture  be  produced.  It  rivals  and  surpasses 
the  texture  of  the  richest  brocades  and  the  most  sumptuous  tapestries. 
It  is  one  of  those  decorative  documents  that  are  an  immediate  and 
complete  answer  to  those  who  ignorantly  and  impertinently  ask: 
"Why  seek  inspiration  in  the  past?" 

Plate  VI  shows,  also  in  colour,  another  piece  of  sixteenth  century 
Italian  tooled  and  illuminated  leather.  Very  remote  this  from  the 
rough  oxhides  and  tinted  moroccos  attached  to  the  seats  of  much 
modern  furniture.  Here  we  have  the  innate  possibilities  of  leather 
taken  advantage  of  to  the  utmost.  The  illustration  shows  the  upper 
part  of  a  leather  pilaster,  the  lower  part  of  which  is  also  preserved. 
The  spiral  bands  of  the  column  are  differentiated  from  each  other 
even  more  marvellously  than  in  the  original  marble  that  was  the 
inspiration  of  the  leather.  The  colours  are  a  liberal  education  in 
polychrome  composition:  gold  outlined  in  black  for  the  column,  with 
red  background  between  it  and  the  straight,  narrow  border;  gold  on 
green  for  the  capital  at  the  top  and  for  the  horizontal  band  of 
acanthus  leaves  below;  red  lined  with  black  circles  for  the  jewel  in 
the  centre  of  the  leaf  at  the  very  toj):  all  possessing  the  peculiar  toned 
and  crackled  lustre  that  time  produces  on  leather  that  has  been 
lacquered  in  colour  on  silver.  Uniquely  beautifid  would  be  a  mantel 
panelled  or  a  room  framed  in  leather  cohunns  like  this. 

Of  course  the  leather  industry  is  an  ancient  one.  Shaggy  hides 
were  used  for  coats  and  blankets  ages  long  before  the  development  of 
the  loom.  Dressed  and  dyed  and  painted  and  beaded  leather  belts 
and  clothing  and  tents  and  draperies  are  likely  to  have  long  preceded 
woven  ones.  But  the  designs  show  that  tooled  and  illuminated 
leathers  were  the  descendants  rather  than  the  ancestors  of  elaborate 
weaves,  and  were  in  fact  at  first  an  attempt  to  reproduce  the  glories 
of  gold  damasks  and  brocades. 

Unfortunately  the  monk  Theophilus  in  the  twelfth  century  did 
not  make  the  tooling  and  illuminating  of  leather  one  of  his  diversarum 
artium.  But  he  did,  in  Chapter  XIX  of  Book  I,  show  how  to  prepare 
leather  for  illumination  by  painting  it  with  gypsum  whiting. 

418 


J'late  11— GKOllGIAN  LEATHER  WITH  RED  FLOClv  GROUND 

419 


Plate  III— ANCIENT  PORTUGUESE  CHAIR-BACK   IN  CHISELLED   LEATHER 
Showing  the  tree  design  with  doublet  lions 


Piute  I\-  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  SPANISH  LEATHER  PANEL 
In  gold  and  blue  on  green 


430 


TOOLED  AND  ILLUMINATED  LEATHERS 

The  first  part  of  Europe  to  acquire  a  reputation  for  decorated 
leathers  was  Spain.  Spain  is  just  as  nuich  the  home  of  leather  as 
China  of  silk,  Egypt  of  linen,  India  of  cotton,  and  Flanders  of  wool. 
Yet,  oddly  enough,  guadamacis  and  guadamaciles,  the  common 
Spanish  names  for  figured  leathers,  are  not  Spanish  but  Moorish. 
They  are  derived  from  the  name  of  the  city  of  Ghadames,  in  the 
Sahara,  which  is  still  an  imijortant  leather  market,  and  which  a 
twelfth  century  Arabic  writer  speaks  of  as  "Ghadames,  the  city  that 
ghadamesian  leather  comes  from." 

In  1197  Alfonso  the  Ninth,  in  presenting  the  town  of  Castro  de 
los  Judios  to  Leon  Cathedral,  fixed  the  taxes  to  be  paid  at  two  hun- 
dred sueldos,  a  fine  hide,  and  two  guadamacis.  These  taxes  had 
existed  since  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  the  First,  that  is  to  say  since 
the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century.  So  that -the  common  belief  in 
Spain  that  guadamacileria,  or  the  art  of  decorating  leather,  crossed 
from  Mohammedan  Africa  into  Spain  in  the  early  Middle  Ages  seems 
to  have  a  very  definite  basis  in  fact. 

However,  none  of  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century  Spanish 
leathers  are  known  to  be  in  existence,  so  that  the  details  of  the  work- 
manship must  be  left  in  obscurity.  But  at  the  Cluny  Museum  there 
are  two  small  coffers,  dating  from  the  fourteenth  century,  adorned 
with  animals  cut  out  of  leather  and  applied  on  velvet.  Ramirez  de 
Arellano,  in  a  bulletin  of  the  Spanish  Sociedad  de  Excursiones,  says 
that  the  earliest  guadamacileros  were  accustomed  to  imitate  brocade 
upon  their  leathers,  employing  beaten  silver  together  with  the  colours 
red,  green,  blue,  black,  white  and  carmine,  iapplied  in  oils,  or  some- 
times (contrary  to  law)  in  tempera.  The  guadamacileros  tanned  the 
hides  themselves,  stamping  the  pattern  from  a  wooden  mould,  and 
then  engraving  on  the  leathers  with  chisels  and  punches.  The  hides 
were  those  of  rams.  The  spaces  between  the  ornament  were  some- 
times left  natural,  but  usually  coloured  red  or  blue.  Gold  in  the 
place  of  silver  is  said  to  have  been  first  introduced  between  1529  and 
1543.     It  was  applied  as  follows: 

The  guadamacileros  smeared  with  oil  the  parts  they  wished  to 
be  figured  in  raised  or  sunk  relief,  and  then  imposed  the  gold  leaf. 
Upon  this  they  applied  heated  iron  or  copper  moulds  and  stamped  the 
pattern.  The  moulds  required  to  be  moderately  hot,  because  if  over- 
heated they  burned  the  hide,  and  if  not  hot  enough  the  gold  was  not 
permanent.    The  superfluous  gold  was  wiped  away  with  lint. 

4.21 


Plate  V— ANCIKNT  SPANISH  LKATHER  SHOWING  LARGE  POMEGRANATES 
FRAMED  IN  ZIGZAG  HALO 


433 


TOOLED  AND  ILLUMINATED  LEATHERS 

The  sixteenth  century  Ordinances  of  Cordova  tell  lis  much  about 
the  industry.  They  provided  that  every  applicant  for  a  license  as 
quadamacilero  must  prove  himself,  in  presence  of  the  examiners; 
able  to  mix  his  colours  and  design  with  them;  and* to  make  a  canopy 
with  fringe,  as  well  as  "a  cushion  of  any  size  or  style  that  were 
demanded  of  him;  nor  shall  he  explain  merely  by  word  of  ujouth 
the  making  of  the  same,  but  make  it  with  his  very  hands  in  what- 
soever house  or  place  shall  be  appointed  by  the  mayor  and  the  over- 
seers of  the  craft  aforesaid." 

It  was  also  provided  by  these  Ordinances  that  the  pieces  of 
leather  were  to  be  dyed,  not  with  IJrazil-wood,  but  with  madder,  and 
that  the  size,  whether  the  hide  was  silvered  or  painted,  was  to  be 
strictly  uniform,  namely,  "the  size  of  the  primitive  mould,"  or  "three- 
quarters  of  a  yard  in  length  by  two-thirds  of  a  yard,  all  but  one  inch, 
in  width."  The  Ordinances  of  lo(57  established  the  penalty  of  death 
for  every  guadamacilero  who  should  seek  in  silvering  his  wares  to 
palm  off  tin  for  silver. 

These  leathers  were  used,  not  only  as  hangings  for  the  walls,  and 
as  carpets  for  the  floors  of  palaces  and  castles,  but  also  as  table  covers, 
counterpanes,  bed  and  window  and  door  drajjcries,  cushion  covers  and 
pillow  tops,  and  as  upholstery  for  the  seats  and  backs  of  chairs  and 
benches  and  travelling  litters. 

The  ancient  romantic  poem  of  that  characteristically  Spanish 
hero,  the  eleventh  century  Cid  Campeador,  tells  us  that  the  two  chests 
with  which  he  deceived  the  Jewish  money  lenders,  Rachel  and  Vidas, 
were  covered  with  guadainacis.    As  the  poem  reads : 

"With  j'our  advice  I  wish  to  build  two  chests, 
Filling  them  with  sand  that  they  may  be  very  heavy, 
Covered  with  guadamacis  and  well  locked, 
The  guadamacis  red  and  the  locks  well  gilded." 

However,  the  chest  preserved  at  Bm-gos  as  one  of  these  "coffers 
of  the  Cid,"  in  which  the  archives  and  other  sacred  treasures  of  the 
cathedral  have  been  deposited  for  many  centm-ies,  and  which  undoubt- 
edly dates  from  about  the  lifetime  of  the  Cid,  is  not  covered  with 
leather. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Cervantes,  the 
author  of  Don  Quixote,  introduces  a  guadaiiiaci  into  his  play  entitled 
Vie  jo  Zelozo: 

"Enters  Hortigosa  carrying  a  guadamaci  and  in  the  skins  of  the 

423 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

four  corners  should  he  painted  Rodamonte,  Mandricardo,  Rugero 
and  Gradaso  (from  Boriardo's  Orlando  Innamorato  and  Ariosto's 
Orlando  Furioso).    Rodamonte  should  have  her  face  veiled. 

"Hortigosa — Lord  of  my  soul,  moved  and  impelled  by  the  great 
fame  of  the  great  charity  of  Your  Grace,  I  have  had  the  boldness  to 
come  and  supplicate  Your  Grace  to  do  me  a  great  mercy,  charity,  alms 
and  good  works,  by  buying  this  guadamaci.  Just  see  how  fine  it  looks. 
The  pictures  seem  almost  alive." 

This  guadamaci  of  Cervantes  was  apparently  much  like  the  seven 
now  in  the  Cluny  Museum,  which  were  installed  in  a  house  at  Rouen 
at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  were  described  by 
M.  de  la  Queriere  in  1830,  in  his  "Recherches  sur  le  cuir  dore, 
anciennement  appele  or  basane."  These  guadamacis,  which  the  spell- 
ing of  the  names  would  indicate  as  of  Spanish  origin,  picture  Rome 
and  the  heroes  of  Rome,  Sctevola,  Codes,  Torquatus,  Calpurnius, 
Curtius  (Curcio)  and  Manlius,  on  panels  six  feet  seven  inches  high  by 
three  feet  four  inches  wide.  The  background  is  in  gold  stippled  with 
tiny  triangles,  and  the  figures  with  their  clothing,  arms  and  armour, 
and  other  accessories  have  all  been  patterned  with  irons  of  various 
figures.  The  rest  is  painted  like  an  ordinary  picture.  No  part  shows 
the  stamped  impression  of  a  block.  Especially  noble  is  the  figure  of 
Rome,  with  the  attributes  of  Pallas,  surrounded  by  military  trophies, 
and  with  the  wolf  at  her  feet  nursing  the  divine  twins.  Of  Spanish 
seventeenth  century  guadamaciles,  the  South  Kensington  Museum 
has  an  interesting  collection  ornamented  with  flowers,  and  foliage, 
birds,  cupids,  pomegranates,  on  green,  white,  blue  and  gold  grounds. 

The  first  European  city  to  acquire  a  special  reputation  for 
leather  was  Cordova.  It  was  so  far  ahead  of  Seville,  Barcelona, 
Ciudad  Real,  Valladolid  and  the  others,  that  their  decorative  leathers 
also  were  known  throughout  the  world  as  cueros  de  Cordoba  (Cor- 
dova leathers),  or  cordovanes.  Ambrosio  de  Morales  wrote  in  the 
sixteenth  century:  "So  many  guadamacis  are  made  in  Cordoba  that 
in  this  craft  no  other  capital  can  compare  with  her ;  and  in  such  quan- 
tities that  they  supply  all  Europe  and  the  Indies.  This  enriches 
Cordoba  and  also  beautifies  her,  for  the  gilded,  wrought  and  painted 
leathers  being  fixed  upon  large  boards  and  placed  in  the  sim  in  order 
to  be  dried,  by  reason  of  their  splendour  and  variety  make  her  prin- 
cipal streets  right  fair  to  look  upon." 

On  August  26,  1567,  before  the  mayor  of  Cordova  and  the  two 

421. 


Plate  VI— TWKSTKD  COMiMN  WITH  CAPITAL  IN  ANCIKNT  ITALIAN  TOOLKD 
AND  ILLl'MINATKI)  I.KATHKU  OF  THK  SIXTKKNTH  CKNTURY 


425 


Plate  VII— ANTIQUE  CHIXESE  GKOUGIAN  SCREEN 


Plate  VIII— ILLUMINATED  LEATHER  OF  THE  FRENCH  REGENCE 


430 


TOOLED  AND  ILLUMINATED  LEATHERS 

inspectors  of  the  trade,  Pedro  de  Blaiicas  was  officially  examined  and 
approved  in  "cutting,  working  and  completing  a  guadamaci  of  red 
damask  with  gold  and  silver  borders  on  a  green  field,  and  a  cushion 
with  green  and  crimson  decoration,  faced  with  silver  brocade." 

Halls  in  the  sixteenth  century  in  Spain  were  often  embertished 
by  surrounding  them  with  arches  wrought  of  leather  in  relief  and 
superposed  on  leather.  As  a  rule  the  arches  were  gilt  and  silvered 
and  rested  on  pilasters  or  columns  (compare  Plate  VI).  When 
pilasters  were  used,  their  centres  would  be  ornamented  with  Italian 
devices  such  as  flowers,  trophies,  cameos  and  foliage.  Landscapes 
with  a  far  horizon  and  no  figm-es,  known  as  boscaje  or  jnntura  verde, 
were  painted  on  the  spaces  between  the  arches,  so  that  the  general 
effect  was  that  of  a  pavilion  with  arches  on  all  sides,  displaying  every- 
where a  wide  expanse  of  fertile  countrv.  '  V\    ^ 

Especially  in  Spanish  chin-ches  and  cathedrals  in'the  sixteenth 
century  were  quadaviaciles  used  as  tapestry  and  carpets,  also  some- 
times as  altar  frontals  like  the  one'  that,  hangs  in  the  chapel  of  San 
Isidro  in  Palencia  cathedral,  and  in  at  least  one  instance  as  the  crown 
for  an  image  of  the  Virgin. 

The  names  of  more  than  forty  of  the  old  Cordova  guadamacileros 
have  been  preserved.  Four  of  them  made  a  contract  in  1557  to  pre- 
pare cut  and  painted  guadamaciles  for  a  palace  at  Rome.  In  1587, 
two  of  them,  together  with  two  painters  of  Cordova,  contracted  to 
make  a  number  of  guadamnc'is  for  the  Duke  of  Arcos,  the  guada- 
macileros recei^'ing  three  rcales  for  each  piece,  and  the  painters  two 
and  a  half  reales,  the  money  paid  by  instalments  as  the  work  pro- 
ceeded. 

In  Venice  the  art  of  gilding  leather  was  highly  developed  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  the  patterns  are  similar  to  those  of  the  textiles. 
A  splendid  examjile  is  one  illustrated  in  coloin-  by  Francis  I^enygon 
in  the  Art  Journal  in  1911.  Fioravanti,  in  1564.,  writes  that  "all 
important  people  are  now  interested  in  the  work,  and  it  is  the  height 
of  fashion  in  Rome,  Naples  and  liologna."  Montaigne  says  that  at 
Rome  rooms  are  ordinarily  better  furnislied  than  in  Paris,  especially 
as  the  walls  are  himg  with  a  great  deal  of  gilt  leather.  Mission, 
travelling  in  Italy  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  notices 
the  gilt  leather  hangings  in  the  houses  of  the  nobility  and  wealthy  citi- 
zens of  Venice.  During  the  seventeenth  century  there  were  seventy- 
one  shops  in  Venice  engaged  in  the  business,  and  the  makers  of 

427 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

cuoridoro  formed  an  important  branch  of  the  guild  of  painters,  but 
during  the  eighteenth  century  the  number  of  shops  dwindled  to  four. 

Long  before  Italy  and  Flanders  and  France  and  England  began 
to  copy  the  Spanish  guadamaciles ,  they  had  their  own  leather  indus- 
tries, and  the  leather  trunks,  chests,  coffers,  cases,  sheaths,  bottles, 
saddles,  chair  seats  and  backs  for  the  nobility  were  often  made  of  cuir 
bouilli,  stamped  and  tooled  and  painted  in  gold  and  polychrome,  and 
of  the  most  exquisite  workmanship.  Indeed,  leathers  in  the  Middle 
Ages  had  an  importance  relatively  much  greater  than  ever  since,  in 
spite  of  the  wonderful  development  in  the  sixteenth  century  in  Italy 
and  the  Netherlands,  as  well  as  in  Spain,  of  gilded  leathers  of  the 
guadamaci  variety.  Nor  did  the  development  of  tapestries  in  France 
and  Flanders,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  the  extraordinary  vogue 
of  tapestries  during  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  seem  at  all 
to  hinder  the  increasing  use  of  leather  on  walls  and  floors. 

An  extraordinary  assemblage  of  mediaeval  European  leathers 
was  that  of  the  famous  Spitzer  collection,  catalogued  with  rare 
wisdom,  by  Alfred  Darcel,  in  1891.  With  regard  to  the  phrase  cuir 
bouilli  (literally  "boiled  leather")  M.  Darcel  shows  that  it  is  descrip- 
tive of  the  process  that  made  heavy  leathers  ready  for  stamping  and 
tooling,  soft  at  first  and  growing  hard  with  time.  Savary's  Diction- 
naire  du  Commerce,  published  in  1748,  says  of  cuir  bouilli:  "It  is  a 
strong  leather  that  has  been  boiled  in  wax  mixed  with  certain  gums, 
resins  or  sizes,  which  are  understood  only  by  those  who  use  them,  and 
which  they  keep  secret."  The  phrase  is  one  employed  particularly 
by  makers  of  sheaths  and  cases  and  bottles,  etc.  The  statutes  of  Paris 
of  1560,  say  that  "no  master  of  said  trade  of  sheath  maker  shall  make 
bottles  of  leather  except  of  cow  or  ox  leather,  because  other  leather 
is  not  suitable  and  said  bottles  shall  be  boiled  in  new  wax  and  none 
other." 

Amongst  the  most  remarkable  of  the  seventy-five  pieces  of  leather 
work  in  the  Spitzer  collection  is  an  Italian  cross  case,  eighteen  by  six 
inches,  of  the  early  fourteenth  century.  It  is  made  of  pieces  of  black 
leather  engraved  and  stamped  and  sewed  together.  The  ornamenta- 
tion consists  of  maple  leaves  and  spiral  stems  framing  a  unicorn, 
dragons,  a  deer,  a  hare,  a  boar  and  birds.  On  the  sides  and  top, 
thrice  repeated,  is  a  coat-of-arms,  that  of  the  Aldobrandini,  sur- 
mounted by  mitre  and  crozier.  An  Italian  fourteenth  century  case 
for  an  ivory  diptych  is  eleven  by  nine  inches,  and  in  brown  leather, 

430 


TOOLED  AND  ILLUMINATED  LEATHERS 

stamped,  painted  and  gilded.  Amongst  the  painted  ornaments  are  a 
dog,  a  rabbit,  birds,  swans,  etc.,  vivaciously  modelled  and  standing  out 
boldly  against  a  ground  engraved  in  spirals.  An  Italian  book  box  of 
the  fifteenth  century  is  delightfidly  adorned  with  a  large  eagle  and 
rinceaux,  and  has  silver  lock  and  hinges  in  the  shape  of  double  fleur- 
de-lis.  A  Spanish  hunting  bottle  of  the  sixteenth  centiny,  ten  inches 
high  by  eight  wide,  by  four  and  one-half  thick,  bears  characteristic 
arabescpies  in  orange,  brown,  black  and  white  leather,  stitched  on  to 
brownish-red  ground.  Besides  the  main  mouth  of  the  bottle  above, 
there  is  a  tiny  spout  for  pom-ing,  at  the  side.  An  Italian  bookcase, 
of  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  nine  inches  by  seven,  bears  the 
arms  of  the  Duke  of  Milan  and  the  initials  of  the  Duke  G.  M.  A 
most  precious  Spanish  wooden  cabinet  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
twenty-two  inches  high  by  thirty -one  wide,  and  foiu'teen  deej},  has  the 
door  in  the  centre  and  tlie  faces  of  the  surrounding  drawers  panelled 
with  tooled  and  gilded  leather,  whose  golden  ornaments  rise  on  a 
ground  painted  azure.  The  panel  on  the  door  carries  a  fountain  sur- 
mounted by  Cupid  and  flanked  by  full-length  figures  of  Philip  II 
and  his  queen,  Margaret  of  Austria.  A  French  coffer  of  the  end  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  four  and  one-half  inches  high,  by  twelve  long, 
by  nine  deep,  is  in  brown  leather  with  painting  and  gilding  almost 
gone.  The  cover  shows  a  lady  and  a  gentleman  in  costumes  of  the 
period  of  Charles  VI,  sei^arated  by  banderoles  bearing  inscriptions 
that  are  illegible.  The  handle  and  elaborate  lock  are  of  copper,  and 
copper  bars  attach  the  leather  that  is  engraved  in  concentric  rinceaux 
of  delicate  form. 

Amongst  interesting  instances  of  the  early  use  of  leather  in 
interior  fiu'nishing  are  the  following:  In  1380,  Charles  V  of  France 
gave  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  a  house  that  contained  "twenty- 
four  pieces  of  vermilion  leather  of  Aragon,  and  carpets  of  Aragon 
leather,  to  put  on  the  floor  in  summer."  In  1416,  the  Duke  of  Berry 
had  a  room  of  red  leather,  adorned  with  coats-of-arms ;  and  Queen 
Isabella  of  Bavaria  had  leather  carpets  to  match  the  summer  hangings 
of  one  of  her  rooms.  In  1496,  Jehan  Garnier,  a  saddler  of  Tours,  had 
the  sum  of  four  livres,  fifteen  sous  tournoys,  granted  to  him  for  "a 
large  white  ox-skin,  delivered  and  consigned  by  him  to  a  painter 
whom  the  king  Charles  VIII  had  sent  for  from  Italy,  whom  the  queen 
had  ordered  to  make  and  paint  the  hangings  of  her  bed." 

The  inventory  of  Catherine  de  Medicis,  published  byM.Bonnaffe, 

431 


Plate  XI— PORTFOLIO  IN  GOLD  LEAF  DESIGN 
Reproduced  from  the  back  of  an  Italian  cardinal's  chair 


4S2 


TOOLED  AND  ILLUMINATED  LEATHERS 

gives  some  idea  of  the  richness  of  ilhiminated  leather  in  France  in  the 
last  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  ^Ve  find  here  gold  and  silver  hang- 
ings on  an  orange  ground,  with  the  queen's  cipher ;  others  with  orange 
mountings,  gilded  or  silvered,  on  a  violet  ground;  others,  again,  sea- 
green,  with  mountings  similar  to  the  preceding,  or  else  red,  with  gold 
and  dove-coloured  mountings;  or  hlue,  with  gold,  silver  and  red 
mountings;  not  to  speak  of  the  many  funeral  hangings,  in  which 
silver  figures  rise  against  a  hlack  background. 

MAKING  GILDED  LEATHERS  IN  FRANCE 

The  only  satisfactory  treatise  on  the  art  of  making  gold  and  silver 
leathers  was  written  by  M.  Fougeroux  de  Bondaroy,  and  published 
in  1762,  as  part  of  Volume  XVII  of  the  great  Description  des  Arts 
et  Metiers,  of  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences.  It  has  illustrations 
of  tools  and  processes  and  an  excellent  glossary  of  technical  terms. 
He  says: 

"The  hangings  of  gold  leather  that  come  to  France  from  Flanders 
are  abnost  all  made  at  Lille,  Brussels,  Antwerp  and  Malines,  the  last 
being  the  most  esteemed.  Very  beautiful  ones  are  made  at  Venice, 
which  we  try  to  imitate.  The  industry  was  established  in  Paris  about 
two  centiu'ies  ago,  by  workmen  from  Flanders,  and  has  been  con- 
tinued by  their  successors.  But  because  of  prejudice,  the  hangings 
from  Holland  and  Flanders  have  had  the  preference,  although  those 
made  here  were  quite  as  good  and  quite  as  beautiful.  It  must,  how- 
ever, be  admitted  that  our  hangings  have  never  been  able  to  equal  in 
perfection  the  gold  leathers  coming  from  England,  as  well  as  those 
coming  from  Venice.  We  are  compelled  to  admit  that  these  last  tvfo 
surpass  ours  in  brilliancy,  beauty  of  design  and  durability.  A  great 
advantage  of  leather  hangings  is  the  fact  that  they  are  less  damaged 
than  cloth  and  wool  by  dampness  and  insects ;  they  lose  little  of  their 
brilliance  with  age;  they  collect  little  dust,  and  that  little  is  easily 
removed  by  washing  with  a  sponge ;  they  do  not  furnish  nests  for  the 
moths  in  summer  that  lay  their  eggs  in  other  tapestries.  Yet  their 
ancient  vogue  no  longer  continues,  and  nowadays  we  see  them  rele- 
gated to  the  entrance  halls  of  coimtry  houses.  Leather  hangings  are 
made  of  skins  of  calf,  kid  or  sheep,  which  seem  gilded;  which  are 
silvered,  raised  in  relief  and  sewed  together.  In  Paris,  sheepskins  are 
usually  used,  although  calf  and  kid  are  more  beautiful  and  more 
durable;  but  they  cost  more.    After  the  skins  are  softened  and  made 

433 


Plate  XII— EDGINGS  FOR  BOOKCASKS  AND  TABI.KS 
434 


TOOLED  AND  ILLUMINATED  LEATHERS 

smooth,  they  are  cut  to  fit  the  engraver's  block  or  die,  usually  about 
sixteen  by  twenty-three  inches.  Then  the  side  where  the  hair  was, 
which  is  smoother  and  firmer  than  the  other,  is  sized  with  great  care; 
and  leaves  of  silver  about  three  and  one-fourth  inches  square  are 
applied  and  beaten  home  with  a  fox's  tail.  The  parts  of  the  surface 
that  are  to  be  gold  or  red  or  blue  are  varnished  with  the  proper 
lacquers.  The  one  that  produces  gold  is  a  light  brown  (Fougeroux 
gives  the  receipt  for  making  it),  and  the  result  is  so  much  like  gold 
that  even  an  expert  nmst  examine  closely  to  tell  the  difference.  Gold 
leaf  is  seldom  used,  because  it  costs  too  much,  but  sometimes  imitation 
gold  leaf  (copper),  or  imitation  silver  leaf  (tin)  are  employed. 
Besides  the  reliefs  received  from  the  block  or  die  in  the  press,  other 
ornament  is  often  tooled  in  from  chisels  or  patterned  punches  called 
'irons.'     The  patterns  are  tiny  florals,  rosettes,  squares  and  circles." 

The  nuiseums  of  Belgium  and  Holland,  especially  the  Rijks 
Museum  at  Amsterdam,  and  the  Antitpiarian  Museum  at  Utrecht, 
are  rich  in  ancient  leathers,  some  of  the  sixteenth,  but  more  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  drawing  room  of  the  great  Flemish  painter, 
Rubens,  was  hung  with  green  leather,  adorned  in  gold  with  chimeras 
and  children  grouped  around  vases  and  pillars.  That  prince  of  dec- 
orative style,  Fouc(juet,  whose  magnificence  aroused  the  jealousy  of 
his  king,  Ivouis  XIV,  liad  at  his  famous  chateau  Vaux-le-Vicomte  "a 
rich  hanging  of  tapestry  of  ciiir  (lore  from  Flanders,  consisting  of 
eight  pieces."  In  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  great 
prosperity  of  Holland  enabled  every  burgomaster  to  have  a  gilt 
leather  room  in  his  house.  Possibly  they  preferred  leather  because  of 
its  cleanliness,  the  hygienic  standards  being  higher  among  the  Dutch 
than  elsewhere  at  this  period.  In  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth 
centmy  the  Dutch  still  continued  to  use  leather,  when  in  England 
and  France  it  had  been  crowded  out  by  wall  paper.  The  designs  of 
Dutch  leathers  run  to  tulips  and  carnations. 

Plate  II  is  interesting,  not  only  because  it  is  English  Georgian, 
but  especially  because  it  is  one  of  the  few  "flock"  leathers  that  have 
survived.  The  process  of  figm'ing  leathers  in  flock  is  similar  to  the 
process  employed  on  wall  papers,  or  in  Germany  on  linens  for  the 
imitation  of  Italian  velvets,  long  before  paper  was  practicable.  Plate 
III  shows  a  Portuguese  chair  back  bearing  the  tree  design  with  lions, 
an  echo  of  the  ancient  Assyrian  tree  design,  preserved  in  the  carved 
stone  tablets  of  the  ninth  century  B.  C,  lent  by  Mr.  Morgan  to  the 

435 


TOOLED  AND  ILLUMINATED  LEATHERS. 

Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art.  Plate  V  shows  an  ancient  Spanish 
leather  panel  with  zigzag  halo  and  large  pomegranate.  Pliite  VIII 
is  a  splendidly  typical  French  leather  of  the  Regence  period.  Plate 
IV  is  a  Spanish  eighteenth  century  leather  in  gold  and  blue  on  green. 
Plate  IX  is  a  screen  composed  of  ancient  Spanish  leather  pictures 
from  Avignon.  Plate  X  is  an  ancient  Louis  XVI  painted  leather 
screen,  in  six  panels  of  four  pictures  each,  now  at  Biltmore.  Plate  XI 
shows  a  modern  portfolio  with  design  from  the  back  of  an  Italian 
cardinal's  chair,  in  gold  leaf  on  antiqued  calf.  Plate  XII  shows 
leather  edgings  of  the  kind  used  today  on  bookshelves  and.  tables. 
Plates  XIII  and  XIV  show  two  modern  leather  screens,  one  in  Per- 
sian, the  other  in  I^ouis  XV  design. 

The  author  is  iiulebted  for  the  illustrations  of  this  chapter  to  Cliarles  R.  Yandell  &  Co. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

WORKING  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  DECORATIVE 

TEXTILES 

Books,  All  of  Which  Are  in  the  Library  ov  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art,  Neav  York 

Especially  do  I  wish  to  acknowledge  my  appreciation  of  Mkjeon, 
Les  Arts  du  Tissu  (Paris,  1909),  a  most  useful  and  readable  hand- 
book. It  has  inspired  me  to  attempt  in  English  what  its  author,  the 
Curator  of  Medifeval  and  Renaissance  Art  in  the  Louvre,  accom- 
plished in  French.  Because  of  its  simplicity  of  arrangement  and 
lucidity  of  style,  it  continued  to  render  me  invaluable  assistance 
long  after  my  own  book  had  far  outgrown  the  scale  of  its  predecessor. 
M.  Migeon's  book  contains  17.5  illustrations;  separate  bibliographical 
lists  on  "Decorative  Silks,"  "Embroideries,"  "Tapestries  and  Rugs," 
and  "Laces"  and  an  index  of  names. 

Equallj^  important  as  a  constant  companion  of  students  and 
amateurs  of  Decorative  Textiles  is  Errera,  Etoffes  Anciennes  et 
Modernes  (Brussels,  1907),  the  small  but  invaluable  catalogue  of  the 
Textile  Collection  of  the  Brussels  Museum,  prepared  by  Madame 
Isabelle  Errera,  and  containing  no  less  than  600  halftone  illustrations. 

Noteworthy  for  its  wealth  of  illustrations  of  historic  silks  is  Cox, 
Soieries  d'Art  (Paris,  1914),  the  text  of  which  is  such  as  would  be 
expected  from  the  learned  Director  of  the  Lyons  Textile  Museunu 

Splendidly  instructive  historically  is  the  introduction  to  Rock, 
Textile  Fabrics,  a  descriptive  catalogue  of  the  woven  stuffs  in  the 
South  Kensington  Museum  (London,  1870). 

But  the  best  British  handbook  on  the  subject  is  Cole,  Ornament 
in  EuroiJcan  Silks  (London,  1899),  generously  illustrated  and  with 
an  adequate  index. 

Most  important  of  all  books  on  the  subject,  with  over  600  large 
and  superior  illustrations,  some  in  colour,  is  Falke,  Kunstgeschichte 

438 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

der  Seidenwcberei  (Berlin,  1913),  which  is  all  the  more  valuable 
because  backgrounded  by  the  330  monumental  plates  of  Lessing, 
Gewebe-Sammlung ,  that  reproduces  with  wonderful  detail  of  pattern 
and  texture,  and  largely  in  colour,  the  principal  woven  treasures  of 
the  Berlin  Museum. 

Cox,  I.' Art  (Ic  Decnrer  les  Tissns  (I>yons,  1900),  is  back- 
grounded by  the  magnificent  textile  collections  of  the  Lyons  Museum, 
and  has  splendid  plates,  many  of  them  in  colour,  and  an  important 
historical  preface  and  descriptions  by  Raymond  Cox,  who  prepared 
the  work  for  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Lyons,  to  serve  as  a  monu- 
mental guide  to  the  masterpieces  contained  in  their  Textile  Museum. 
The  illustrations  include  Coptic  and  other  Tapestries,  Oriental  Rugs 
and  Laces,  as  well  as  Byzantine,  Persian,  Sicilian,  Italian  and  later 
Damasks,  Brocades  and  Velvets. 

Backgrounded  mainly  by  the  textile  collections  of  the  Vienna 
Museum  is  Dregek,  Kunxtlerische  EntwicMung  der  Weherei  und 
Stickerei  (Vienna,  1904),  with  one  volume  of  text,  two  volumes  of 
plates,  and  an  excellent  index. 

Indispensable  to  all  who  wish  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
textile  collections  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  is  the  supple- 
ment to  the  Bulletin  of  the  Museum  (May,  191.5),  entitled  "The 
Textile  Collection  and  Its  Use." 

Large  volumes  of  coloured  plates  are:  Dupont-Auberville, 
Orncvieut  des  Tissus  (Paris,  1877),  and  Fischbach,  Ornamentc  der 
Gewehe  (Ilanau,  1882).  The  author  of  the  latter  was  Director  of 
the  Art  Industrial  School  at  St.  Gall  in  Switzerland,  and  the  book 
was  also  published  in  England,  with  plate  descriptions  in  English  as 
well  as  the  original  German.  Fischbach,  Wichtigsten  Wehe- 
Ornamente,  with  214  coloured  plates  and  an  historical  introduction 
(Wiesbaden,  1901),  was  a  much  more  ambitious  attempt,  and 
included  hundreds  of  patterns  made  accessible  during  the  intervening 
generation  by  the  extraordinary  growth  and  development  of  textile 
collections  in  Euroj^ean  nuiseums.  Fischbach's  own  collection,  it  is 
interesting  to  note,  is  now  a  part  of  the  collection  of  the  New  York 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  and  contains  many  examples  that  were 
reproduced  in  his  books. 

Textiles  and  Textile  Designs,  including  Tapestries,  Laces  and 
Rugs  in  the  Paris  Musee  des  Arts  Decoratifs,  will  be  found  illus- 
trated, but  imperfectly  and  without  adequate  descriptions,  in  Series 

439 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

IV,  VI,  XII  of  the  Nouvelles  Collections  de  VUnion  Centrale  pub- 
lished in  Paris  serially  by  Guerinet.  See  also  Volume  VII  of  Le 
Musee  des  Arts  Decoratifs,  also  issued  serially  by  the  same  publisher. 

Finely  illustrated  volumes  are:  Pasco,  Catalogue  of  the  Badia 
Collections  (Barcelona,  1900),  which  is  now  a  part  of  the  Morgan 
collection  in  the  New  York  Cooper  Museum;  Coknu,  La  Collection 
Besselievre  (Paris,  n.  d. ),  the  cataloguer  being  the  Librarian  of  the 
Musee  des  Arts  Decoratifs,  and  the  116  examples  taken  mostly  from 
the  XVI,  XVII  and  XVIII  centuries,  with  a  few  from  the  XV  and 
XIX;  GuiFFREY-MiGEON,  La  Collection  Kelekian,  100  plates  of 
Venetian  and  Oriental  damasks,  brocades,  velvets  and  rugs  (Paris, 
n.  d.) ;  Cluny  Museum,  Etoffes  Anciennes,  mostly  of  the  XVI, 
XVII,  XVIII  centuries;  Dumoxthier,  Etoffs  d'Ameuhlement 
(Paris,  1909  and. 1914),  two  separate  books  on  Empire  Decorative 
Textiles  by  the  Administrator  of  the  French  Mobilier  National; 
Dtjmonthier,  Etoffes  et  Tapisseries,  on  French  Decorative  Textiles 
and  Tapestries  of  the  XVII  and  XVIII  centuries  by  the  same  author; 
KuAiscH,  Muster  Orient alische  Gewebc  und  Druclxstoffc  (Dresden, 
1893),  illustrating  212  patterns  of  Oriental  woven  and  printed  fabrics 
in  the  Dresden  Museum. 

Clouzot,  Le  Metier  de  la  Soie,  is  an  illustrated  history  of  silk 
weaving  in  France  from  1466  to  1815,  together  with  the  history  of 
Toile  Imprimee  (Chintzes  and  Cretonnes)  in  France  from  1759  to 
1815  (Paris,  n.  d.)  ;  Michel,  Etoffes  de  Soie  (Paris,  1852),  is  an 
exhaustive  literary  history,  with  splendid  index,  of  the  commerce, 
manufacture  and  use  of  Silk,  Gold  and  Silver,  and  other  precious 
textiles  in  the  Occident,  princiiially  in  France,  in  the  Middle  Ages; 
Pariset,  Industries  de  la  Soie  (Paris,  1890),  is  a  history  of  silk, 
largely  from  the  industrial  point  of  view. 

Blanchet,  Tissus  Antiques  (Paris,  1907),  illustrates  and  dis- 
cusses learnedly  Coptic,  Early  Medieval,  and  early  Swiss  textiles. 

Algoud,  Le  Velours  (Paris,  n.  d.),  is  a  volume  devoted  entirely 
to  Velvets,  with  a  valuable  preface  and  splendid  illustrations.  On 
velvets  as  now  made  in  England,  see  Vallance,  Velvets,  Velveteens 
and  Plushes  (Art  Journal,  1891,  p.  230  +). 

SPANISH,  MOHAMMEDAN  AND  PERSIAN 

Artinano,  Tejidos  Espanoles  (Madrid,  1917),  is  the  sumptuous 
illustrated  catalogue  of  the  Madrid  Exposition  of  Spanish  Textiles; 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Sakke-Maktix,  Miihammedamscher  Kitmt  (Munich,  1912),  is  three 
splendid  volumes  containing  2;)7  plates,  partly  in  colour,  with  impor- 
tant and  extensive  text,  illustrating  amongst  other  objects  exhibited 
at  the  world-famous  Munich,  1910,  Exhibition  of  Mohammedan  Art, 
Damasks,  Brocades,  Velvets,  Embroideries  and  Oriental  Rugs; 
Maktin,  Persische  Staff c  (Stockholm,  1899),  is  a  volume  devoted  to 
Persian  Textiles  with  Personages,  dating  from  1550  to  1660;  Martin, 
Persische  Prachtstoffe  (Stockholm,  1901),  a  volume  devoted  to  the 
splendid  Persian  fabrics  in  Castle  Rosenborg  at  Copenhagen. 

CHINESE  AND  JAPANESE 

TizAC^  Etoffes  de  la  Chine  (Paris,  n.  d.),  is  devoted  by  the 
Curator  of  the  Musee  Cernuschi  to  the  woven  and  embroidered  silks 
of  China.  Verneuii,,  Japanese  Textiles  (Paris  and  London,  1910), 
in  80  coloured  plates  illustrates  200  choice  woven  examples  for 
importers,  museums  and  private  collections;  Tokio  Museuai,  Orimon- 
Ruizan,  in  ten  volumes  and  in  colour,  illustrates  vividly  Old  Japanese 
Textiles  and  Wall  Coverings. 

SHAWI-S  AND  coverlets 

Blair,  Paisley  Shawls  (Paisley,  1904),  is  devoted  by  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Textile  College  of  Glasgow  to  the  history  of  the  now 
extinct  industry  that  so  successfully  reproduced  on  the  shuttle  loom 
the  effects  of  the  Oriental  Cashmere  shawls  made  on  the  tapestry 
loom,  or  by  the  embroiderer  in  small  pieces;  Hall,  Handtaoven  Cover- 
lets (Boston,  1912),  helps  to  immortalise  "Hickory  Leaf,"  "Lee's 
Surrender,"  "Sally  Rodes,"  "Old  Ireland,"  "Downfall  of  Paris," 
"Declaration  of  Independence,"  and  many  other  Colonial  patterns, 
illustrating  many  of  them  in  black  and  white  and  in  colour. 

More  ambitious  in  what  they  attempt  than  in  what  they  accom- 
phsh  are  Harmuth,  D/cf/oHrt/vy  of  T'extiles  (New  York,  1915), 
which  is  nevertheless  of  great  importance  as  a  record  of  names  actually 
used  in  the  American  market;  Heiden,  Textilkunst  des  Alterthums 
bis  der  Neuzeit  (Berlin,  1909) ;  Heiden^  Handworterbuch  der 
Textilkunde  (Stuttgart,  1904). 

The  best  book  for  technical  students  of  mechanical  weaves  is 
Watson,  Textile  Design  and  Colour  (London,  1912) .  An  up-to-date 
modern  technical  handbook  is  Nystrom,  Textiles  (New  York,  1916). 

441 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

LACES  AND  EMBROIDERIES 

The  largest  book  on  Laces  is  Ricci,  Antiche  Trine  Italiane 
^Bergamo,  1908),  in  two  volumes,  the  first  devoted  to  Needle  Lace, 
and  the  second  to  Bobbin  Lace,  and  both  carrying  a  wealth  of  illus- 
trations and  text  which  bring  out  the  facts  about  the  Origin  and 
Development  of  European  Laces  in  Italy  in  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries.  An  English  translation  has  been  published  by  J.  B. 
Lippincott  Company  of  Philadelphia. 

An  excellent  small  book  is  Jacksox-Jesurum^  Histori/  of  Hand- 
made Lace  (London,  1900).  Besides  the  general  history  of  Laces,  it 
contains  valuable  dictionary  of  Laces  (pp.  107-206),  as  well  as  a 
glossary  of  terms  and  an  excellent  index.  It  is  richly  illustrated, 
has  an  excellent  descriptive  bibliography  in  Chapter  XI,  and  entirely 
supersedes  Palliser^  History  of  Lace,  the  third  edition  of  which  was 
published  in  London  in  1875.  Also  helpful  is  Jourdain^  Old  Lace 
(London,  1908) .  Indispensable  because  of  its  illustrations  is  Pollen, 
Seven  Centuries  of  Lace  (London,  1908). 

A  good  introduction  to  the  study  of  French  Laces  is  Lefebure, 
Dentelles,  constituting  his  report  on  Class  84  at  the  Paris  Exhibition 
of  1900,  and  translated  into  English  (New  York,  1912)  by  Margaret 
Taylor  Johnston.  The  little  volume  is  well  illustrated.  Larger  and 
more  comprehensive  is  Lapauze,  Le  Poinct  de  France  (Paris,  1905) . 
Laces  of  the  Paris  Musee  des  Arts  Decoratifs  are  illustrated  in 
Series  VII  of  the  Nouvelles  Collections. 

Dkeger,  Entwicklungs  geschichte  der  Spitze  (Vienna,  1910),  is 
backgrounded  by  the  Lace  collections  of  the  Vienna  Museum. 

An  excellent  illustrated  catalogue  is  that  of  the  Ricci  sale  of  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  century  laces.  New  York,  1915. 

For  the  history  and  description  of  machine-made  Laces  see 
FelkiNj  Hosiery  and  Lace  (London,  1876)  ;  Henox^  Tulles  et 
Dentelles  Mecaniques  (Paris,  1900). 

A  magazine  devoted  to  Laces  and  Embroideries  is  the  Bullentin 
of  the  Needle  and  Bobbin  Club  (New  York,  1916). 

embroideries 

The  most  useful  single  book  on  Embroideries  is  Errera, 
Brod cries  A  nciennes,  a  richly  illustrated  catalogue  of  the  collection  in 
the  Brussels  Museum  (Brussels,  1905).  The  practical  side  is  well 
treated  in  Christie,  Embroidery  and  Tapestry  Weaving  (London, 

442 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1912);  Day-Bucklk.  Art  in  Needlework  (London,  1914),  and 
Hands,  Church  Needlework  (London,  1909).  A  peculiarly  domestic 
and  Colonial  form  of  art  is  treated  in  Webster,  Quilts  and  How  to 
Make  Them  (New  York,  1915). 

Lefebure,  Embroider  If  and  Lace  (London,  1888),  translated 
from  the  French  and  annotated  by  Alan  S.  Cole,  combines  two  arts 
not  unskilfully  in  small  space,  while  Aleori),  Needlework  as  an  Art 
(London,  1886),  with  fine  illustrations  of  splendid  pieces,  such  as 
the  Syon  Cope  and  Charlemagne's  Dalmatic,  scants  lace  but  also 
admits  tapestry  and  furniture,  while  giving  the  main  space  to 
Embroidery. 

Other  helpful  books  on  Embroideries  are  Kendrick,  English 
Embroidery  (London,  1904)  ;  Jourdain,  English  Secular  Embroid- 
ery (London,  1910);  and  Townsexd,  Embroidery,  or  the  Craft  of 
the  Needle  (London,  1907). 

Martin,  Stickereien  axis  dem  Orient  (Stockholm,  1899),  shows 
18  plates  of  Persian,  Bokhara  and  Anatolian  embroideries  from  his 
own  collection.  Quaint  and  interesting  are  the  subjects  treated  in 
Huisir,  Samplers  and  Tapestry  Embroideries  (London,  1913). 

carpets  and  rugs 

The  most  important  book  on  Oriental  Rugs  is  Martin,  History 
of  Oriental  Carpets  before  1800  (Vienna,  1908).  Here  alone  is  the 
story  of  the  historical  development  of  the  art  told  adequately.  Here 
the  work  of  Lessing  and  of  Bode  is  brought  to  its  full  fruition.  If  a 
museum  can  afford  but  one  book  on  the  subject,  this  should  be  the 
one.  It  is  luxuriously  illustrated,  with  text  illustrations  of  other 
forms  of  historic  art,  which  help  to  explain  the  design  course  of 
knotted  floor  coverings. 

The  largest  book  on  Oriental  Rugs  is  Clarke,  Onental  Carpets, 
the  English  edition  of  the  three  huge  volumes  containing  148  photo- 
gravure i^lates,  besides  nmch  introductory  text,  published  in  Vienna 
(1892-96)  by  the  Austrian  Commercial  Museum.  A  supplementary 
volume  containing  25  plates  in  colour,  with  introduction  by  Bode,  text 
by  Frederick  Sarre,  and  descriptions  by  Dreger,  was  published  in 
Leipsic  in  1908. 

Other  books  containing  large  plates  of  Oriental  Rugs  are: 
Robinson,  Eastern  Carpets  (London,  1882);  Hendley,  Asian 
Carpets,  XVI  and  XVII  century  designs  from  the  Jaipur  palaces 

44S 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

(London,  1905)  ;  Andrews^  One  Hundred  Carpet  Designs  from 
Various  Parts  of  India  (London,  1906). 

The  best  American  books  on  the  subject  are  those  of  Mum  ford, 
IjEWIs  and  Hawi.ey,  the  hitter  being  preferable  for  classification  pur- 
poses. Very  helpful  is  the  catalogue  prepared  for  the  Tiffany  Studios 
by  Mrs.  Ripley  (New  York,  1907),  the  subtitle  of  which  is  "Ruqs  of 
the  Chinese  Empire.  A  mile-post  in  American  connoisseurship  is  Dr. 
Valentiner's  Early  Oriental  Rugs  (New  York,  1910),  the  cata- 
logue of  a  loan  exhibition  held  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art. 
Important  also  is  the  catalogue  of  the  Ballard  Collection  of  Ghiordes 
Rugs  (St.  Louis,  1916),  and  the  sale  catalogue  of  the  Clarke  Collec- 
tion of  Chinese  Rugs  (New  York,  1915). 

Indispensable  as  a  small  handbook  of  the  subject  is  the  illus- 
trated Guide  to  the  Collection  of  Carpets  of  the  South  Kensington 
Museum. 

MACHINE-MADE  CARPETS  AND  RUGS 

Humphries,  Oriental  Carpets  (London,  1910),  contains  an 
important  chapter  on  Joseph  Marie  Jacquard  and  machine-woven 
rugs.  Still  more  important  on  the  same  subject  is  the  article  The 
Making  of  Tapestry  and  Brussels  Carpets  (Art  Journal,  1895, 
p.  237+),  and  Millar,  The  Making  of  Carpets  (Art  Journal,  1908, 
p.  19+).  The  early  history  of  Savonneries  is  told  in  Dupont^ 
Stromatourgie  (Paris,  1632). 

TAPESTRIES 

The  best  handbook  on  the  subject  is  my  own  Tapestries,  their 
Origin,  History  and  Renaissance  (New  York,  1912),  with  4  illus- 
trations in  colour  and  147  in  black  and  white,  a  comprehensive  name 
and  subject  index,  besides  a  separate  index  of  Bibliography,  chapters 
on  the  Bibliography  of  Tapestries,  the  Tapestries  at  the  Metropolitan 
Museum,  the  Texture  of  Tapestries,  the  Bible  in  Tapestries,  History 
and  Romance  in  Tapestries,  Tapestry  Point  of  View  and  Perspective, 
The  Care  of  Tapestries,  Tapestry  Signatures  and  Makers,  Tapestry 
Design  and  Cartoons,  French  Tapestries,  Flemish  Tapestries,  Eng- 
lish Tapestries,  Gothic  Tapestries,  Renaissance  Tapestries,  American 
and  other  Tapestries. 

The  first  two  handbooks  on  the  subject  were  Muntz,  La 
Tapisserie  (Paris,  1881),  with  English  translation  (London,  1885); 

^44 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

and  GuiFFREY,  Histoire  de  la  Tapisserie  (Tours,  1886).  The  next 
was  Thomson,  History  of  Tapestry  (London,  1906),  who  added 
much  to  our  knowledge  of  English  tapestries;  and  added  still  more 
in  1914,  when  he  published  his  finely  illustrated  Tapestry  Weaving 
in  England. 

^  A  monumental  and  definitive  work  on  the  Gobelins  is  Fexaili,e, 
Etat  General  de  la  Manufacture  des  Gobelins,  in  five  volumes  (four 
volumes  already  published),  with  hundreds  of  large  photographic 
illustrations  and  a  wealth  of  documents  and  records  giving  everything 
that  could  throw  light  on  the  activities  and  products  of  the  Gobelins. 
A  perfect  small  handbook  of  the  Gobelins  is  Guiffrey,  Les  Gobelins 
et  Beauvais  (Paris,  1908),  with  94  illustrations  in  halftone;  Badin, 
La  Manufacture  de  Tapisseries  de  Beauvais  (Paris,  1909),  illustrates 
30  Beauvais  tapestries,  and  prints  many  documents  bearing  on  the 
history  of  that  establishment. 

The  best  book  on  Gothic  and  Renaissance  tapestries  is  Guiffrey, 
Les  Tapisseries  (Paris,  1911),  in  the  Molixier  series  of  Arts 
Appliques  a  I'Industrie,  with  splendid  illustrations  and  an  excellent 
index. 

The  most  important  illustrated  works  on  the  collections  of  dif- 
ferent countries  are :  ( 1 )  Spanish,  Vau:ncia,  Tajnces  de  la  Corona 
de  Espafia  (Madrid,  1903)  ;  Tapestries  and  Carpets  from  the  Prrado 
(New  York,  1917)  ;  (2)  Austrian,  Birk,  Niederlander  Tapeten  und 
Gobelins,  published  in  the  first  four  volumes  of  the  Vienna  Jahrbuch 
(Vienna,  1883-6)  ;  (3)  French,  Guichard,  Les  Tapisseries  Decor a- 
tives  du  Garde  Meuble  (Paris,  1881);  Sartor,  Les  Tapisseries  de 
Rheims  (Rheims,  1912)  ;  I^oriquet,  IjCs  Tapisseries  de  la  Cathedrale 
de  Rheims  (Paris,  1882) ;  Les  Tapisseries  de  la  Cathedrale  d' A  tigers 
(Leipzig,  1892),  containing  72  photographs  of  the  Apocalypse  set; 
(4)  Swedish,  Boettiger,  Svenska  Statcns  Sanding  af  Vdfda  Tapeter 

(Stockholm, )  ;  Italian,  Muntx,  Ia's  Tapisseries  de  Raphael  an 

Vatican  (Paris,  1897)  ;  (.5)  American,  Yvovi.KV.,  Collection  of  Tap- 
estries (New  Voi-k,  1913)  ;  ((5)  Swiss,  \Veese,  Die  Casar  Teppiche 
(Berne,  1911). 

Important  books  on  Flemish  Tapestries  are:  Wauters,  Les 
Tapisseries  Brmrelloises  (Brussels,  1878);  Soil,  Les  Tapestries  de 
Tournai  (Tournai,  1892). 

The  best  museum  catalogue  is  Destree,  Les  Tapisseries  des 
Musees  Royaux  du  Cinquantenaire    (Brussels,   1910),  with  many 

41.5 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 

illustrations.  The  best  national  inventory  is  Guiitrey,  Les  Tapis- 
series  du  Garde  Meuble  (Paris,  1900). 

The  first  important  book  published  on  Tapestries  was  Jubinal, 
Les  Anciennes  Tapisseries  Histoirees,  in  two  volumes,  with  123  large 
hand-coloured  line  plates  from  drawings  by  Victor  Sansonetti  (Paris, 
1838).  The  largest  book  on  tapestries  is  the  great  Histoire  Generale 
de  la  Tapisserie  (Paris,  1874-84)  ;  the  French  volume  by  Guiffrey; 
the  Flemish  volume  by  Pinchart;  the  Italian,  German  and  English 
volumes  by  Miintz. 

The  most  extensive  bibliography  is  Guiffrey^  La  Tapisserie 
(Paris,  1904),  with  1083  titles  and  an  excellent  index. 

Splendidly  illustrated  exhibition  catalogues  are :  Wauters^  Les 
Tapisseries  Histoirees  a  V  Exhibit  ion  Beige  de  1880  (Brussels,  1881)  ; 
Destree,  Tapisseries  a  I'Exhihition  d'Art  Ancien  Bruxellois,  1905 
(Brussels,  1906);  Chefs-d'Oeuvres  d'Art  Ancien  a  l' Exposition  de 
la  Toison  d'Or,  Bruges,  1907  (Brussels,  1908). 

Catalogues   of   important   American   exhibitions   are   those   of: 

Boston,  1893;  Washington,  ;  Brooklyn,  1913;  Avery  Library, 

New  York,  1914;  Buffalo,  1914;  Philadelphia,  1915. 

The  best  sale  catalogues  are  those  of  the  Somzee  sale,  Brussels, 
1901 ;  the  Spitzer  sale,  Paris,  1903;  the  Berwick  and  Alba  sale,  Paris, 
1877;  the  Lowengard  sale,  Paris,  1910. 

Important  American  sale  catalogues  (all  New  York)  are  the 
Marquand,  1903;  White,  1907;  Poor,  1909;  Garland,  1909;  Yerkes, 
1911;  Hoe,  1911;  Robb,  1912;  Lydig,  1913. 

The  best  catalogues  of  private  collections  are:  Spitzer,  1890; 
Gaillard,  Paris,  1904;  Le  Roy,  1908;  Kann,  1907;  Hoentschel  (now 
part  of  the  Morgan  Collection  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art), 
1908;  Morgan,  Paris,  1913;  Tuck,  Paris,  1910. 

CHINTZES  AND  CRETONNES 

The  most  important  illustrated  works  on  the  subject  are: 
Ci-oupcoT,  Histoire  de  la  Toile  Impriniee  en  France,  printed  in  the 
same  volume  with  Ci.ouzot^  Le  Metier  de  la  Soic,  listed  above; 
Clouzot,  La  Manufacture  de  Jouy,  in  ten  parts,  of  wliich  five  have 
already  been  published,  at  Versailles;  Huet,  Desseins  pour  la  Manu- 
facture de  Jouy — ^two  portfolios  illustrating  the  designs  made  by  the 
famous  Jean  Baptiste  Huet  and  other  lesser  lights  for  Oberkampf 
to  use  on  printed  cloths  at  Jouy,  now  preserved  in  the  Paris  Musee 

41.6 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

des  Arts  Decoratifs,  and  published  as  Series  IX  and  IX  bis  of  the 
Nouvelles  Collection  de  I'Union  Centrale;  Forrer,  Die  Zeugdruche 
der  hyzantischen,  romanischen,  gothischen  und  spdtern  Kunstepochen 
(Strasburg,  1894) ;  Forrek,  Die  Kunst  der  Zeugdrucke  vom  Mit- 
telalter  bis  zur  Empirezeit  (Strasburg,  1898). 

RouFFAER,  De  Batik-kunst  in  Nederlandsch-Indie  (Utrecht, 
1914),  is  a  monumental  volume  on  Batik  work. 

economic  and  legislative  history  of  the  industry  in  France  in  the  XVII 
and  XVIII  centuries. 

WALL  PAPERS 

The  two  books  on  the  subject  are  Sanborn,  Old  Time  Wall 

Depitre,  La  Toile  Peinte  en  France  (Paris,  1912),  is  an 
Papers  (New  York,  1905),  with  many  illustrations  of  the  European 

hangings  used  by  our  American  forefathers;  Jennings, 

(I^ondon,  ),  an  illustrated  handbook  for  dealers. 

Important  historical  studies  are:  Clouxot,  La  Tradition  du 
Papier  Peint  en  France  (Gazette  des  Beaux- Arts,  1912)  ;  Clouzot, 
Papiers  Peints  de  I'Epoque  Napolienne  (Gazette  des  Beaux- Arts, 
1914) ;  FoLLOT,  Papiers  Peints  a  I'Exposition  de  1900,  the  privately 
printed  report  of  the  committee  that  organised  and  installed  the 
exhibit  of  historical  wall  papers. 

Other  magazine  articles  are:  Bruehler,  Die  Tapete  und 
Elsass  (Das  Kunstgewebe  in  Elsass — Lothringen,  Strasburg,  1900) ; 
Vaixance,  Wall  Papers  (Magazine  of  Art,  1904)  ;  Vallance,  New 
Designs  for  Wall  Paper  (Art  Journal,  1902). 

For  modern  processes  of  manufacture  see  illustrated  articles  in 
the  Decorative  Furnisher  and  in  the  Wall  Paper  News  (New  York). 

A  valuable  portfolio  illustrating  modern  reproductions  of  his- 
toric French  Wall  Papers,  most  of  them  printed  from  the  original 
blocks,  has  been  published  by  the  American  agents,  A.  Iv.  Diament 
&  Co.  (Philadelphia, ). 

The  literature  of  Trimmings  and  Illuminated  Leathers  is  scanty 
and  unsatisfactory.  I  have  given  some  refei-ences  in  the  text  of  Chap- 
ters XIX  and  XX. 


INDEX  AND  GLOSSARY 


The  illustrated  definitions  of  textile  terms  contained  in  this 
volume,  sujjply  a  long  and  frequently  expressed  want.  To  facilitate 
their  use  as  a  Glossary,  the  Index  has  heen  made  unusually  complete. 
For  obvious  reasons  the  Index  does  not  include  the  plate  pages,  or  the 
chapter  on  Bibliography,  except  as  regards  the  heading,  Museums,  to 
which  special  attention  is  called. 


Abbeville— 163 

Achmim — 332 

Adam,  Robert— MQ,  377,  405,  411 

Afghan  rugs — 18.5 

Afghanistan — 223 

Alcazar  carpet  factory — lt3,   llS 

Alen^on  lace — 97 

Alexander  the  Great — 13,  197 

Alfonso  IX— 421 

Altman  Collection — 208,  213,  223,  309 

American  decorative  silks — 8-11,  357 

American  War  of  Independence — 343 

American  tapestries — 239,  245 

Ammaniis   Marcellinus — 13 

animal  patterns — 35,  37;  Chinese — 175, 
177;  Turkish  rug — 197;  Persian  rug 
—204,  208 

Anjou,  Duke  of — 259 

Anne,  Queen — 409  [ — 391 

.■i])plique:  lace  curtains — 101  ;  wallpapers 

arabe    (arabian)    laces — 105 

Arabian  Nights — 37 

Arabic  letters  used  decorativcly — 31,  213 

Aragon — 431 

Arcos,  Duke  of — 427 

Ardebil  rug — 208 

Aretin— 271 

Ariosto — 424 

Aristotle — 11,   13 

Aries — 332 

armure — 1  1,  ()9 

Arras  tapestries — 248,  255,  284;  coun- 
terfeit— 259 

448 


Art   Nouveau — 156,  385 

Assisi,  Francisco  d' — 295 

Assyrian — 22,   106,  397,  435 

Asterius,  Bishop — 23 

Aubusson  tapestries — 233,  235,  237,  309; 

designs — 235;  dyes — 235;   rugs — 156; 

savonneries — 1 55  ;   signatures — 235 
Augsburg — 335 
aune   (English  ell) — 277 
Aurelian — 13 
Axminster — 145,  149 


B 


217 


-287 


Bagdad — 31, 
Baku— 189 
bandboxes — 374 
Barberini  family- 
Barcelona — 424 
Barnum,  P.  T.— 233 

Baroque— 45,  47,  248,  284,  397,  401,  408 
basket  weave — 57,  69,  115 
Bastille— 369 
Batum — 1 89 

Bayeux  tapestry — 115,   121 
Beauvais  tapestries — 233,  235,  237,  297- 

301,  309,  313 
Beauvais-Boucher   ta])estries — 301 
Belouche  rugs — 185 
Bergamo  rugs — 199 
Beshir  Bokharas — 185 
binders — 77,  171 
block-printing,  origin  of — 322,  324,  335, 

S63,  369,  391 


INDEX  AND  GLOSSARY— Continued 


block-printed    tapestries — 228 ;    chintzes 

—321.,   335,   31.7,   385;   wall   paoers— 

363,  385 
bobbin— 1,   2,   25,   56,   85,  99,   128,  306, 

385 
bobbin  fabrics — 2,  57,  61,  231 
bobbin  laces — 95,  97,  105 
body  brussels — 167 
Bokhara  rugs — 183-185 
Bologna — 39 

bonnaz  machine — 101,  106 
Boscorcale  frescoes — 377,  380 
Boston — 263,  265,  373 
braids— 405,  407,  409 
brides — 97 

brocades,  weave  of — 6,  61,  69,  416,  418 
brocart — 6 
brocatclle — 2,  5 
broche— 63,  69,  183 
broche — 1,  63 
Bruges — 39 

Bruges  lace — 97,  105,  330 
brush— 363,  387 
Brussels  mark — 283 

Brussels   tapestries — 237,   248,   283,  284 
brussels  carpets — 7,  156,   157,  l63,  165; 

laces — 97;  lace  curtains — 101 
Buddhist  symbols — 1 75 
Buffalo  tapestry  exhibition — 237,  245 
Bunistead,  Josiah — 371 
bullion  fringes — 405,  408 
Burano — 97 
buratto— 91,  95,  319 
burlap — 56,  57 
Burnc-Jones — 106,  239,  317 
Byzantine — 23,   109,  397 
Byzantine  Empire — 13,   18,  23 


Cabistan  rugs — 193 

Caen  stone — 387 

Cassarius,  Bishop — 332 

Cairo — 31 

camel's  hair — 217 

Carlyle— 369 

carpeting — 139,  163;  origin  of  brussels 
— 156 

carpets  and  rugs  (for  hand-made,  see 
rugs),  brussels — 157,  163,  165;  chen- 
ille axminster — 157,  158;  cross-stitch 
— 157,  171;  cut  and  uncut — 163; 
embroidered  rugs — 171 ;  European  and 
American     maehine-uiade  —   157-173; 


iesigng 


hooked — 157,  171,  173;  ingrain — 157, 
160,    161;    leather— 423,    431;    sehna 
axminster — 169,     171;     Smyrna — 158, 
160;  spool  axminster — 167,  169;  tap- 
estry- 157,     167;    velvet— 157,    l67; 
Wilton— 157,  163,  l65 
cartoons— 277,  279,  287,  303,  321 
carved  leather — 116 
Cashmere   (Kashmir) — 133 
Cashmere  rugs — 1 95 
Caucasian   rugs — 186-195,   223; 

and  colours  of — -191 
Cennini,  Cennino — 335 
Chaillot— 147,  149,  153,  155 
Chalfin,   Paul— 411 
Charlemagne — 29,  30,  35,  109,  233 
Charles  Martel — 30.  233 
Charles  I — 303,  409 
Charles  II — 305 
Charles  V,  Emperor — 15,  143,  186,  268, 

273,  275,  279,  283;  of  France— 431 
Charles  VI — 431 
Charles  VIII — 15,  431 
chenille   axminster — 157,    158 
Chevreul— 411 
Chichi  rugs — 193 
Chicago — 265 
China   famous   for   silk — 11, 

421 
Chinese— 2,  11,  18,  21,  32, 
401,  411,  413;  brush — 36 
dale — 127;  cloud  band— 208,  211,  213; 
colour  symbolism — 177;  letters  used 
decoratively — 21,  213;  painting — 361- 
363;  paper — 358,  361  ;  pen — 363;  por- 
celain— 18,  21;  rugs — 174-183;  silk 
designs  —  21;  symbolism  —  177;  tap- 
estries—227  ;  wail  paper — 36l,  363,364 
Chinoiseries — 342,  413 
chintzes  and  cretonnes — 228,  322-357, 
385;  cloths  used — 357;  origin  of  the 
words — 322;  painted — 322,  324,  330, 
332;  Indian— 330,  332;  English— 332, 
343,  347;  French— 332,  337,  343; 
German  —  335  ;  Italian  —  335  ;  Jouy 
prints — 337,  343 ;  processes — 343,  347, 
351;  silk— 357 
chintz    designers:      Huet — 343;    Morris 

—347 ;  Wearne— 347 
chiselled  effects  in  rugs— 211 
Christ — 109 
Christian  IV— 303 
Cid  Campeador — 423 
Clarke,  Sir  C.  I'urdon — 174 

449 


15,   18,   91, 

35,  47,  48, 
3 ;   Chippen- 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 


Classic— 259,  310,  364,  383 

claw  and  ball  foot — 177 

Clement  XI— 2t5 

cluny  laces — 99 

cisele  velvet — H 

Coeurdoux,  Father — 330 

Colbert— 153,  235,  284,  289 

Colonial— 133,  171 

colour  harmony — 411 

compartment    borders — 27 1 ;     rugs — 2 1 1 

Conde — 309 

Confucian  symbols — 175 

Constantine — 13 

Constantinople- 23,  30,  186,  189 

copper — 135 

copper-plating  printing — 343,  347 

Coptic— 7,  29,  85,  109,  227,  397 

corded — 97 

Cordova — 423,  424,  427 

cords— 405,  407 

corduroys — 7 

cotton— 1,  11,  35,  56,  69,  79,  101,  179, 

199,  204,  208,  211,  221,  228,  361,  407, 

421 
Crane,  Sir  Francis— 301,  303,  305 
Crane,  Walter— 106,  371 
crash — 56 

Crefeld  Textile  Museum— 15 
Crete— 105 

cretonnes  (see  chintzes) 
crewels— 106,  127,  133 
crocheting — 85,   105 
Cromwell — 305 
Cufic — 31,  199 
cuir   bouilli — 430;   dore — 435 
cuoridoro — 430 
Cumberland,  Duke  of — 147 
cut  work — 91,  408 


D 


Daghestan  rugs — 193 

damasks— 63,    73,     77,    79,    409,    416; 

weave   of — 5-6,    61  ;    definition    of — 1 ; 

origin  of  word — 29 
damasks,    brocades     and    velvets  —  1-53, 

335 
Darcel,  Alfred — 430 
Darius — 29,   106 
Dark  Ages — 361 
David— 377 

decorative  art,  philosophy  of — 380 
denim — 57,  6l 
dentelle — 91 

450 


derby  damask — 77 

design  motifs,  animal — 35;  Chinese — 21 
Chinese  and  Rococo — 48 ;  doublet — 22 
Empire— 49,  53;  Louis  XVI— 49 
Persian  —  37;  pomegranate  —  41 
Sicilian — 37;   vase — 41;   Venetian — 39 

designers   (see  chintz  designers,  tapestry 
designers,  and  tvall  paper  designers) 

diaper  (diaspre) — 9 

Dionysius  Periegetes — 18 

Directoire — 53 

discharge  printing — 351 

Donegal — 149 

Don  Quixote — 245,  423 

doublet  patterns — 22,  23,  27,  31 

double  warp   tapestries — 306 

dragon— 175,  177,  211 

Drake,  Alexander  W. — 374 

draperies— 394,  397,  407,  413,  418,  423 

draw  loom — 2 

drawn-work- — 91,  95 

Dufour,  Joseph — 371 

Dupont,  Pierre — 153;  Louis — 155 

dj'e-painting — 332 

dyes— 319,  321,  330,  332,  394,  423 


E 


East  India  companies — 330 

Ecbatana — 217 

Egyptian  —  1 57,    227 ;     chintzes  —  324 ; 

paper — 358,  361  ;  trimmings — 394,  397 
Egypt  famous  for  linen — 11,  421 
Elizabethan — 133,  409 
ell  (French  aune) — 163,  277 
embroideries — 106,  138;  American — 133; 

Chinese — 133;    English — 121,    127; 

Flemish — 121  ;  Florentine — 121  ;Indian 

— 133;  origin  and  definition — 106,  109; 

tools  and  stitches — 138 
embroidery  machines — 99,  101 
Empire — 49,  53,   155,  165,  383 
esparto — 36 1 
etamine— 56,  57,  105,  319 


Fabriano — 3  6 1 

Felletin  tapestries — 235 

Ferdinand  I,  Emperor  of  Spain — 421 

Fereghan  rugs — 204,  217 

filet  italien  lace — 77,  91,  95 

filling — 54 

Flanders   famous  for  wool — 1 1 


INDEX  AND  GLOSSARY— Continued 


Flanders  lace — 97,  105 

flax  velours — 1 

Flemish  Renaissance — 271;  laces — 97; 
leathers — 133,  t.35;  wool — 421;  tap- 
estries— 32 

fleurs-de-lis-^27 

floated  cfl^ects — 69 

flock  papers — SGi;  leathers  and  linens 
—435 

Florence — 39 

Follot,  Felix— 369 

Foucquet,  Nicolas — 28t,  287,  435 ;  Jean 
—397 

Fougeroux  on  leathers — 433 

Francis  I — 15,  277. 

French  laee  curtains — 101 

French  Revolution — 369 

fringes— 91,  179,  183,  394,  401,  407, 
408,  409,  423 

Fulliam — 147 

Futurists — 385 

friezes — 391 

frescoes — 377 


Galla  Placidia— 29 

galloons— 394,  397,  405,  409 

gauzes — 31,  73,  105 

Genoa— 41,  91,  364 

George  III — 364 

Germain,  Saint — 29 

Ghadames — 42 1 

Ghiordes  rugs— 197;  knot— 183,  199,  204 

gimp^ — 405 

glazed  chintz— 322;  cloths— 391,  393 

globe  and  cross  of  Empire — 267 

Gobelins— 147,   153,   155,  233,  237,  239, 

309,  284-297 
gold— 63,    79,    95,    109,    115,    133,    315, 

317,    397,    408,    409,    416,    418,    421, 

433,  435 
Golden  Fleece — 121 
Goodyear,  Professor — 358 
Gorevan  rugs — 223 
Gotliie— 39,  41,  45,  248,  259,  268,  271, 

315,  321,  397 
grass  cloths— 387,  393 
grass  rugs — 171 
Greek  language — 23 
Greek  textiles — 109,  227;  paper — 358 
grosgrain — 11,  57,  63 
grosgrain  damask — 9 
gros  point — 133 


grotesque  ornament — 45,  310 
guadamacis— 421,  423,  424,  427,  430 
guadamaeilcros — 121,  423,  427 
Gucnje  rugs — -193 
guipure— 91,  97,   101,  405 
Guise,  Duke  de — 279 
Guli  Hinnai  motif — 204 
gypsum— 418 
Gyze,  George — 199 

H 

Hamadan  rugs — 217 

Hancock,  Thomas — 373 

hangers — 108,  409 

hangings,  leather — 433 

Harewood — 411 

Harold — 121 

Harun-al-Raschid — 37 

hatchings— 227,  251,  255,  315 

headings — 408,  409 

hemp — 1 1 

Henri  11—287 

Henry  III — 97,  140 

Henri  IV— 15,  153,  284,  287 

Henry  VI — 38  . 

Henry  VIII— 127,  279 

Henriques  rug — 143 

Hepplev?hite — 409 

Herati  motif— 204,  213,  217 

Herez   rugs — 223 

Herodotus — 332 

Hesse-Darmstadt,  Prince  of — 295 

high  warp— 56,  228,  231,  289 

Hindoo— 138,  322;  wall  papers — 36l 

Hispanic  Museum — 247 

Hispano-Moresque — 30,  31 

Hoentschel   Collection— 155,  309 

Holbein  rugs — 199 

Holy  Roman  Empire — 30,  38 

hom"  (tree  of  life) — 22 

Homer — 109 

Honiton  laee — 97 

hooked  rugs— 157,  171,  173 

Huet,  Jean  Baptiste— 301,  369,  377 

Hundred  Years  War — 263 


iconoclastic — 35 

illuminated  leathers  (see  leathers) 

India — 133;     chintzes — 322,     330,    332; 

home  of  cotton — 11,  421;  rugs — 223, 

226 
indiennes— 322,  332 
ingrain  carpets — 157,  160,  l6l 

451 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 


Irish  point  lace  curtains — 101,  105 
Ispahan  rugs — 221 

Italian  Renaissance   (see  Renaissance) 
Italy — 15,  39,  408;  paper — 361;  leather 
— 418,  427,  435 


Jacobean — 409 

Jacquard,  Joseph  Marie — 15;  attachment 

2,  99,  165,  169,  383,  407;  tapestries— 

9,  69,  227,  228,  306 
Jacquemart  et  Benard — 369 
Japan,  sericulture  in — 11,  15 
Japanese— 11,  387,   393,  397,  4l6 
jaspe — 56,  57,  73,  77 
Jenghiz  Khan — 32 
Jerusalem — 30 
Jewish — 106 
Joanna  the  Mad — 279 
John  the  B;iptist— 121 
Jones,  Inigo — 364 
Joseph  II — 155 
Jourdain,  M.— 399 
Justinian — 13,  15,  22,  23 
Jute— 11,  56,  79 

K 

Kang-hi— 179 

Kann  Collection — 299 

Karadagli  rugs — 204 

Kashan — 37 

Kashan  rugs — 204,  208,  221 

Kazak  rugs — 191 

Kent,  Sir  William— 364 

Khorassan  rugs — 223 

Khotan — 11 

Kidderminster — 145,   160 

Kien-lung — 179 

Kirman   rugs — 221 

knitting — 85,   105 

Knole— 409 

knotting — 85,    105 

knots,  rug — 183,  199,  204 

kowtow — 364 

Kublai  Khan— 32 

Kulah  rugs — 197 

Kurdistan  rugs^ — 204,  221 


laces— 83-105,  408;  Flemish— 97;  French 
97;  Italian— 91,  97;  machine— 97,  99, 
105;  origin  and  definition  of — 85; 
origin  of  bobbin  laces — 9''> ;  origin  of 
the  name — 91 

452 


lacis — 91 

lace  curtains— 83,  85,  101,  105 

lace  machines— 97,  99,  101,  171 

lacet— 91 

lacquers— 416,  418,  435 

Ladik  rugs— 199 

Lafontaine — 310 

lambrequins — 407,   415 

lampas — 2,  6 

Latin  language — 23 

leathers,  tooled  and  illuminated — 416- 
437  ;  Cordova — 423,  424,  427 ;  Flemish 
— 433,  435;  French — 430,  431,  433, 
435;  gold  and  silver — 433,  435;  origin 
of — 418,  421;  Spanish — 421,  423, 
424,  427;  Venetian— 427 

I>eavers,  John — 99 

Lebrun,  Charles— 47,  279,  289 

Leo  X— 268,  291,  303 

Lesgliian  rugs — 193 

light  and  shade— 251,  401 

line  contrast; — 251 

linen- 1,  7;  11,  29,  35,  101,  361,  421 

lisses   (leashes) — 2,  56,  228 

loom,  development  of  —  2-5;  54-56; 
trimming — 407 

Louis  XIII— 45,  153,  284,  287 

Louis  XIV— 47,  97,  179,  284,  289,  293, 
309,  401,  435 

Louis  XV— 47,  48,  49,  179,  293,  295. 
313,  401,  405,  413 

Louis  XVI— 49,  163,  179,  295,  313,  337, 
383,  405,  411,  413,  437 

Lourdet,  Simon — 153;  Philip — 153 

low  warp — 56,  289 

Lucca — 39 

Lyons — 1 5 

M 

Macartney,   Lord — 364 

machine  laces — 97,  99,   105;  rugs — 157- 

173;  wall  papers — 391 
made  in  America — 8 
madras — 105 
Mantegna— 305,  377 
Marco  Polo — 32 
Marie  Antoinette — 8 
Mantua,  Duke  of— 279 
Marquand,  Henry  G — 41 6 
Martial— 109 

Martin,  Dr.  F.  R.— 174,  213 
Margaret  of  Austria — 275,  431 
materials— 77,   235,   289,   310,  315,  321, 

357 


INDEX  AND  GLOSSARY— Continued 


M.ixiniilian— 279,  283 

Mazarin — 284 

Mecca — 30 

Mechlin  lace— 97 

Medicis,  Catherine  and   Marie  de — 287, 

431 
mercerized — 1,  61,  63,  77,  407 
Merton  tapestries — 239,  317 
M  ielielangelo — 401 
Middle  Ages— 421 
Milan— 39;  Duke  of— 431 
inille-fleur— 21,  32,  35,  ISS,  2;)9,  317 
Mina  Khani  motif — 204 
Ming  period — 21,  179 
Minneapolis — 263 
mohair — 1 
Mohammedan    (Saracenic) — 29,    30,    31, 

35,  37,  38,  115,  186,  197,  233,  361,  421 
Mongols — 82 
monk's  cloth — 56 
Moorish — 143,  421 
moquette — 163,   165 
Morant — 409 
mordants — 332,  351 
Morgan,    J.     Pierpont — 155,     267,    271, 

287,  295,  309,  315,  435 
moroccos — 418 
Morris,     William— 53,     106,     169,     239, 

317,  371 
Mortlake  tapestries— 237,  239,  287,  301, 

303,  305 
Mosul  rugs — 217 
Mt.  Vernon — 156,  l63 
mulberry  tree — 11,  15,  17,  23 
Mulhausen— 337,  347,  351 
muslin — 31 

MUSEUMS 

and  Public  Collections 

(See  also  credit  notes  and  bibliography.) 

Amsterdam — 420 

Angers— 248,  252,  259 

Auxerre — 26 

Bayeaux — 110,   115 

Beauvais — 263 

Berlin— 9,    18,   20,   22,   23,   26,   29,    143, 

199,  201,  408,  439 
Boston— 109,  258,  260,  263,  265 
Brooklyn— 138,  323,  325,  331,  333,  358 
Brussels— 8,  9,   12,   14,   18,  20,  25,  265, 

273,  278,  438,  442 
Buffalo— 237,  299 
Chicago— 18,  260,  265 


Cincinnati— 127,  138 

Cologne — 23,  79 

Crefeld— 15,  18 

Dresden — 18,  408,  440 

Diisseldorf— 9,  18 

Florence — 9,  18,  281 

Gobelins — 263,  284,  317 

Hamburg — 9,  18 

Le   Mans — 22 

London:  British — 121;  South  Kensing- 
ton (Victoria  and  Albert) — 8,  9,  18, 
22,  27,  121,  143,  145,  208,  225,  256, 
261,  303,  317,  321,  424,  438,  444; 
Hampton  Court— 277,  279,  305 

Lyons— 18,  27,  211,  438,  439 

Madrid  (Royal  Spanish  Collection) — 31, 
150,  262,  267,  268,  270,  272,  274,  277, 
279,  281 

Maestricht— 20,  22,  27 

Maidstone — 127 

Metz — 29 

Milan — 18 

Minneapolis — 257,  263 

Mt.  Vernon— 154,  156,  l63,  173 

Munich- 18,  205 

New  York:  Cooper  Union — 18,  375, 
408,  440;  Hispanic  —  247;  Jumel 
^Lansion — 384,  387;  Metropolitan — 7, 
17,18,36,  40,  52,  82, 1 09, 1 1 8, 1 27, 1 38, 
143,  155,  171,  173,  202,  207,  208,  211, 
212,  213,  215,  223,  226,  229,  247,  250, 
252,  253,  255,  261,  264,  266,  271,  295, 
301,  303,  309,  316,  321,  357,  360,  363, 
376,  377,  393,  397,  408,  416,  437,  439, 
444 ;  Natural  History — 232,  247,  397 ; 
Public  Library— 296 

Niiremberg- — 18 

Oldenburg— 9,   18 

Paris:  Cermischi — 432;  Cluny — 8,  18, 
25,  27,  35,  233,  267,  421,  424,  440; 
des  Arts  Decoratifs— 18,  256,  343,  439, 
440;  French  National  Collection — 156, 
281,  287,  288,  290,  292,  294,  303,  304, 
305,  440;  Louvre — 29,  279,  280 

Philadelphia — 18 

Portland,  Maine  (Longfellow) — 387,  390 

Rome— 9,  18,  27,  109,  277 

Sens— 27 

Stockholm    (Royal   Collection) — 305 

Tokio — 441 

Turin — 9 

Utrecht- 435 

Venice — 18 


.453 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 


Vienna  (Imperial  Austrian  Collection) — 
18,  38,  115,  121,  206,  207,  277,  279, 
280,  283,  408,  439,  4'i2,  443 

Worcester — 121 

N 

Napoleon— 15,  53,  295,  343,  383 

Nebuchadnezzar — 29 

needle— 85,  91,  106,  231  ;  laces— 95,  105, 

408 
needlework — 319;  tapestry — 231 
New  York  Public  Library— 283 
nottingham    laces — 99;     lace    curtains — 

101 
novelty  lace  curtains — 105 
nudes — 271 

o 

Oberkampf,  Philip— 337,  343 
Orleans,  Duke  of— 293 
Ovid— 109 


papyrus — 358,  361 

papiers  peints — 324,  369 

Papillon,  Jean — 369 

parchment — 358,  361 

Paris  tapestries — 284 

Paris,  Matthew — 140 

Parisot,  Peter— 147,  149 

passementerie — 394,  415 

(jatterns :  animal,  Mohammedan  and 
Christian — 35,  37;  Baroque — 45,  47; 
Byzantine  Roman — 23,  25,  27,  29; 
Chinese — 18,  21;  chintzes  and  cre- 
tonnes— 343,  347;  Coptic — 29;  Direc- 
toire  and  Empire — 19,  53 ;  Gothic 
pomegranate  —  41  ;  ingrain  —  160; 
Italian— 39,  41;  leather— 424,  427, 
431,  435;  Louis  XIV— 47;  Louis  XV 
and  Chinese — 47,  48;  Louis  XVI,  49; 
Mohammedan — 29,  30,  31  ;  Moham- 
medan Persian — 37;  nineteenth  and 
twentieth  centuries — 53  ;  Oriental  rug 
—175,  177,  183,  185,  191,  193,  195, 
197,  203,  204;  Renaissance  vase  and 
grotesque — 41,  45;  Sassanid  Persian — 
21,  22,  23;  Sicilian — 37,  38;  tapestry 
—309,  317 

pattern  papers — 377,  383 

patterns,  psychology  of — 380,  385,  391 
'  Peace  tapestries — 263 

Pekin- 32 

Pembroke,  Earl  of— 147 

454 


pen — 363 

Percier  and   Fontaine — 155 

Perneb — 377 

perrotine  blocks — 347 

Persian— 11,  21,  22,  23,  31,  32,  35,  37, 
39,  106,  138,  139,  155,  171,  179,  437; 
rugs — 203-223 

Persian-Chinese — 32,  1 83 

persiennes — 322 

Peruvian— 85,  227,  394,  397 

Peter  the  Great— 247,  293 

petit  point— 106,  127,  133,  228,  319 

Philip  the  Good — 121 

Philip  11—127,  431 

phoenix — 175,   177,  211 

phulkaries — 133 

picture  papers — 377,  383 

pile — 7,  8 

Pinde  Bokharas — 185 

Pisa — 39 

Piranesi — 310 

plain  weave — 56,  61 

plasters — 393 

Pliny— 13,  109,  324,  332,  351 

point — 91;  d'angleterre — 97;  de  flandres 
— 97;  de  venise — 97 

pole  medallion — 217 

Pollaiuolo — 121,  377 

pomegranate  designs — 41 

Pompadour,  Madame  de — 295 

portraits  in  tapestry — 295 

Pompeii — 377 

Portuguese — 330,  363,  435 

pouncing  designs — 330 

prayer  rugs — 197,  213 

Princess   Bokharas — 185 

princess   lace — 105 

printed  rugs — 167;  chintzes  and  cre- 
tonnes— -322-357 ;  wall  papers — 363- 
393 

punto  in  aria — 91 

pyre — 22 


Q 


-163 


quarter  (of  a  yard)- 
Quedlimburg — 332 

R 

rag  carpets — 171 

rags — 36l 

Rameses  the  Great — 85 

ramie — 1 1 

Raphael— 268,  270,  293,  303,  377 

Raphael  cartoons — 303 


INDEX  AND  GLOSSARY— Continued 


Regency  (Regence) — 179,  293,  313,  405, 
437 

Renaissance — 41,  45,  127,  133,  247,  248, 
259,  268-f,  303,  309,  310,  315,  321, 
364,  377,  383,  397,  401;  laces— 105; 
tapestries — 268-283 

rep  (rib)— 2,  56,  57,  228,  231,  251,  408 

resists — 330,  351 

reticella — 85,  91 

Reveillon — 369 

Rheims,  Archbishop  of — 295 

Richelieu — 284 

rocaille — 48 

Rococo— 48,  248,  309,  310,  364,  401 

Roger  11—15,  37,  38 

roller-printing — 343,  347,  351;  Amer- 
ican— 357;  making  the  rollers — 351; 
wall  papers— 371,  383,  391 

Roman  designs — 109;  paper — 358 

Roman  Empire — 18,  91,  186 

Romano,  Giulio — 268,  271,  275,  377 

rose  point — 97,  99 

Royal  Bokharas — 185 

Rubens— 287,  435 

rugs — 32,  139,  156;  American  liand- 
knotted  and  tapcstrj' — 155,  156; 
definition  of  carpets  and — 139;  Eng- 
lish—140,  145,  147,  149;  finger— 7; 
French  savonnerie — 153;  German  and 
Austrian  hand-knotted — 155;  Irish — 
149;  origin  of  hand-knotted — 7;  pile 
— 139,  MO,  145,  156,  157;  Spanish— 
140,  143 

rugs.  Oriental— 169,  171,  174-226,  380; 
classification  of — 189,  191;  chiselled 
effects— 211 

Russian  Caucasus — 186,  189 

Russian  tapestries — 247 


Sampler — 133 

Sanborn,  Kate — 373,  374 

San  Michele  tapestries — 245 

Santa  Barbara  tapestries — 245 

Santa  Sophia — 25 

Saracenic — 1 1 5 

Saruk  rugs — 221 

Sassanid  Persian— 21 -23^  31,  79,  332 

sateen — 61 

satin — 54,  57,  6I 

satin,  weave  of — 5 

satin  derby — 61 

satin  damask — 9 

savonneries— 147,   149,   153,   155,   157 


saxony  brussels  and  wilton — 165 

Scandinavian  tapestries — 247 

scliiffle  madiine— 99,  101,   1 06 

Scipio — 275 

scrim — 105 

sculpture — 364,  401 

seamed  carpets  and  rugs — 163 

schna  knot— 133,  169,  199,  204 

Sehna  rugs — 213 

selvages— 179,  183 

Serapi  rugs — 223 

Serebend  rugs — 203,  217 

Seres — 13,  18 

Seville — 424 

Shah  Akbar— 223 

Shall   Abbas   motif— 203,   204,  208,   211 

slied— 2,  56 

shikii — 56 

Shiraz  rugs — 223 

Shirvan  rugs — 193 

shuttle— 2,    54,    56,    69,    157,    231,    306, 

407;  fabrics— 2,  57,  61,  145,  231 
Sicily— 13,  15,  37,  38,  91,  115 
Siena— 39 
silk— 77,  95,    133,    179,  321,   407,  408; 

growing  of — 11,  13,  15,  17;  etymology 

of  the  word — 13;  mania — 17;  printing 

• — 357;    tapestry — 9;    weaves — 1,    57; 

worm — 11,  13,  23,  25 
silver— 416,  418,  420,  421 
skirt — 408 

Smyrna  rugs — 158,  I6O 
soie   brochee — 9 
Soliman  the  Magnificent — 186 
Soumak   rugs — ^195 
Spain — 15;  home  of  leather — 421;  king 

of— 295 
Spanish     Renaissance — 127;     leathers — 

421,  423,  424,  427 
spiders — 105 
Spitzer  Collection — 430 
spool  exminster — 167,  169 
stained    glass — 35 

stamped  leathers— 421,  431,  433,  435 
stenciling— 347,  387,  391,  393 
stippled — 416 
strapwork — 47 
straw — 361 
Stromatourgie — 1 53 
Strzygowski — 29 
Stuart  Collection — 283 
Swiss  lace  curtains — 101 
Syon  cope — 121 
Syria — 13 

455 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 


Tabriz  rugs — 221 

taffeta— 57,  69 

tambour  lace  curtains — 101 

Taoist  symbols — 175 

tapestries — 32,  35,  109,  139,  227-321, 
401,  416,  418,  433;  American— 239- 
245,  313-315;  Aubusson— 233-239, 
310-313;  Beauvais  — 297-301,  309; 
block-printed  —  228 ;  borders  —  228, 
237,  255,  268-271,  310;  borders  and 
trimmings — 394-397;  captions — 255, 
279;  cartoons— 277,  279,  321,  287, 
303;  definition  of— 1,  2,  237-233; 
designs — 235,  255,  309;;  double  warp 
—231,  306;  dyes— 235,  312;  fading 
of — 261,  279;  furniture  coverings — 
306-321;  German — 245;  Gobelins — 
284-297,  309;  gold  in  — 315-317; 
Gothic — 248-267-i  high  warp  and  low 
warp — 56,  228,  231,  289;  imitation — 
227-228;  Italian — 245;  jacquard — 
227,  228;  Merton— 239;  mille-fleur— 
317;  Mortlake — 301-305;  needlework 
—231;  painted— 231-233,  259;  petit 
point— 231;  price  of— 227,  228,  301, 
306,  310;  real — 228,  231  ;  Renaissance 
— 268-283,  310;  rugs — 156;  Russian 
— 247 ;  Scandinavian — 247 ;  signatures 
— 235,  283,  301;  Spanish — 245;  tex- 
ture— 245,  248,  251,  255,  259,  297, 
299,  306,  315;  verdure — 317;  weave  of 
— 1,  63,  228-231;  Williamsbridge — 
245;  Windsor— 245 

tapestries,   famous — 

Arming  of  the  King — 239;  Birth  of 
Bacchus — 237;  Capture  of  Jerusalem 
— 261 ;  Crucifixions — 265  ;  Joseph — 
263  ;  Massacre  of  the  Innocents — 267 ; 
Mazarin — 251,  255,  267;  Parnassus — 
283;  Prophecy  of  Nathan— 251,  271; 
Seven  Sacraments — 255,  271 ;  Triumph 
of  the  Virgin — 267 
tapestries,  famous  sets — 

Abraham— 277,  279;  Acts  of  the 
Apostles— 268,  273,  277,  291,  315; 
Apocalypse— 248,  259;  Beauvais  sets 
—297,  299,  301;  Chinese— 235,  313; 
David — 267;  Don  Quixote  —  245; 
Foundation  of  Rome — 228 ;  Gobelin 
sets— 289,  291,  295;  Grecian  drapery 
—237,  313;  Hardwicke  Hall— 261 ; 
Holy  Grail- 239;  Hunts  of  Maxi- 
milian—279,  283,  291 ;  Hunts  of  Louis 

456 


XV — 233;  Lady  with  the  Unicorn— 
35  ;  Mercury  and  Herse — 277 ;  ]\Ieta- 
morphoses — 237,  239;  ^lortlake  sets — 
301,  303,  305;  Moses— 277;  Our  Lady 
of  Sablon— 273,  275 ;  Portieres  of  the 
Gods — 233  ;  Royal  Residences — 233, 
289;  St.  Peter— 263;  Scipio— 275, 
277,  279,  291;  Trojan  War- 228; 
Tunis— 283 

tapestry  brussels — 167 

tapestry  carpets — 157,  167 

tapestry,    definition    of    the    word — 227, 
228,  231,  233 

tapestry  designers — 

Audran— 233,  293;  Berain— 297,  309; 
Boucher— 235,  245,  295,  299,  301,  310; 
Callet — 295;  Casanova — 301;  Cleyn — 
303,  305;  Coypel— 293,  295;  Deshays 
— 301;  Dubreuil — 287;  Dumons — 235, 
299,  313;  Fontenay— 299;  Herter- 
245;  Huet  —  301;  Jacquer — 295; 
Jecurat  —  295  ;  Jouvenet  —  293  ; 
Lagrenee — 301;  Lebrun — 289,  291; 
Leprince — 301 ;  Lucas — 305  ;  Man- 
tegna — 305;  Meissonier — 310;  Mig- 
nard  —  291;  Orleans  —  293;  Orley  — 
275,  279-283;  Oudry— 233,  237,  293, 
299,  301,  310;  Poussin — 291;  Pro- 
caccini — 245;  Raphael — 268,  273,  291, 
293,  303;  Restout — 293,  295;  Romano 
— 268,  271,  275,  305,  315;  Rubens— 
287;  Tessier— 295;  Troy— 295  ;  Van- 
loo — 295  ;  Vermegen — 283 ;  Vernan- 
saal — 299;  Vincent — 295 

tapestry  makers — 

Audran — 295,  301;  Behagle— 297; 
Besnier — 299;  Charron — 301;  Comans 
—284,  287,  303;  Cozette— 301  ;  Cretif 
277;  De  Vos— 283;  Filleul— 297, 
299;  Foucquet  —  287;  Foussadicr  — 
245  ;  Hinart  —  297 ;  Kleiser  —  245  ; 
Maecht — 303;  Mcnou — 301;  Merou — 
299;  Morris  —  239;  Neilson — 301; 
Pannemake  r — 279 ;  Picon — 235  ; 
Planche — 284,  287,  303;  Poyntz — 305 
trimmings — - 

American — 394,  41 1 ;  Assyrian — 397 ; 
Baroque — 397,  401;  books  on — ■113, 
415;  Byzantine— 397 ;  Coptic— 394; 
Egyptian — 397 ;  Empire — 405,  41 1  ; 
English— 409,  411;  Gimps— 405,  407; 
Gothic— 397 ;  Greek— 397 ;  illustra- 
tions described — 408,  411,  413;  Louis 
XIV — 401 ;    Louis   XVI   and   Adam^ 


INDEX  AND  GLOSSARY— Continued 


405  ;  Louis  XV — 401,  405  ;  making  of — 

405,    407 ;    museum    collections— '108 ; 

Peruvian — 397 ;  Renaissance — 397 
tapis — 140 

tassels— 394,  397,  401,  408,  413 
tatting — 105 
Taxis,  Francis  de — 273 
Tekke  Bokharas — 185 
tekko— 387 
tempera — 42 1 
Ten  Commandments — 35 
Teniers — 343 
textiles,  use  of — 83 
texture — (see    Preface);    also    248,    251, 

255,  299,  315,  377,  387,  393,  4l6 
Theophilus — 418 
Tiiierry,  Thomas— 313 
Tiffany  Studios — 175 
Tiflis— 189 
tin— 423,  435 
tiraz — 37 
Titian— 416 
toiles  peintes — 324 
tooled   leathers — (see   leathers)  ;   the 

process— 416,  418,  435 
Toulouse,  Count  of — 297 
Tournai— 163 
tram — 54 

treadles— 2,  56,  407 
Trinity  in  tapestries — 267 
Turkey  carpets — 149 
Turkey  work — 145,  171 
Turkish     rugs — 195,    202;    designs'  and 

colour  of — :197 
Turks— 30,  37,  138,  186 
twill— 54,  57,  61 
Two  Sicilies— 38 

u 

unicorn — 127,   175 
upholstery— 394,  407,  423 


valance — 413 

Vandyke — 145 

van  Orley,  Bernard— 227,  275,  279,  283 

vase  designs — H,  45 

vellum— 358,  361 

velours — 7 

velveteens— 7 

velvets,  Coptic — 7;  cut  and  uncut — 7, 
1 63 ;  double-woven — 8 ;  Genoese — 8, 
41;  modern  reproductions — 79;  Per- 
sian—39;  Venetian— 8,  39 


velvet  carpets — 157,    l67;   pillows — 397 
velvets,  weave  of — 6-8,  163,  411,  416 
Venetian— 38,  39,  91,  97,  427 
verdures — 227,   228,   317;   wall  paper — 

387 
Vesuvius — 374,  377 
Vinciolo,  Frederic — 97 
Virgil— 109 
Virgin,  the— 121,  127 


w 


wall  papers — 228,  401 ;  American — 385, 
387 ;  ancestor  of — 377 ;  band-boxes — 
374;  Chinese— 361,  363,  364,  380,  383; 
English — 363,  371;  European — 363; 
flock- 364,  369,  387;  French— 369, 
371 ;  in  America — 371,  373;  making  of 
—387,  391;  monotony  of — 385;  rolls 
— 358;  texture  papers — 387;  width  of 
358 

wall  paper  designers: 

American — 387 ;  Crane — 371,  385 ; 
Huet— 369;  Morris— 371,  383,  385; 
Miiller— 383;  Wearne— 371 

wall  papers,  famous — 

Adventures  of  Telemachus — 374;  Bay 
of  Naples — 274;  Canton — 387;  Cor- 
dova— 387;  Cervera — 387;  Cultivation 
of  Tea— 374;  Dorothy  Quincy— 274; 
El  Dorado— 377;  Jumel— 387;  Lady 
of  the  Lake— 374;  Longfellow— 387; 
Olympic  Games — 374;  On  the  Bos- 
])orus  —  374;  patriotic  —  387;  Paul 
Revere — 387;  Pizarro  in  Peru — 374; 
Psyche  at  the  Bath — 383;  Roses — 383; 
Scenes  from  Paris — 374 ;  Stag  Hunt — - 
371;  Stanwood-Mansfield- 387 ;  Trop- 
ical Scenes — 374 

Ware,  Isaac — 364 

warp— 2,  7,  54,  57,  69,  99,  157,  179, 
204,  228,  251,  407;  reps— 57,  63; 
velvets — 7 

Washington,  George — 163 

Wearne,  Harry — 347,  371 

weaves — 

arniure — 69;  brocade — 6,  69;  burlap 
— 56;  chintzes  and  cretonnes — 357; 
damask — 5,  6,  73-)-;  damask  and  bro- 
cade— 6 1  -69 ;  d  e  n  i  m — 57 ;  derby 
damask — 77;  etamine — 56;  gauze — 73; 
jacquard  tapestry — 69+;  modern — 
69-|- ;  plain — 56-1- ;  plain,  twill  and 
satin — 54-61;   satin   derby — 61;   rep — 

457 


DECORATIVE  TEXTILES 


56,  57;     taffeta — 69  i     tapestry — 56; 
twill  and  satin — 57;  velvet — 6-8,  79 

weft— 2,  7,  54,  57,  157,  228,  407;  reps — 

57,  251;  velvets — 7 
whiskers — 271,   273 
White,  Stanford— 416 
Whitney  Collection — 299 
Whitty— 149 
Whytock,   Richard— 167 
William  the  Conqueror — 115,  121 
William  and  Mary — 409 
Williamsbridge  tapestries— 245 
Wilton— 145,  147,  149,  156 


wilton    carpets    and    rugs — 7,    157,    163, 

165;  velvets— 167,  l69 
Windsor  tapestries — 245 
wood — 361  ;   panelling — 401 
wool— 1,  5,  11,  179,  183,  199,  204,  321, 

421 
woollen  damasks — 1 


Yerkes  Collection — 208,  211 


Zuber  wall  paper  works — 371 


tP 


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ALL  BOOKS  AAAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 
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wix^^s  ^^ 

UNIV.  OF  CALIF..  BE 

RK. 

^\^S 

C'C8          J 

y.r-R  -^  "^       9 

1/iR    24    iqqi 

"  "*     (30!        1  ' 

INTERLIBRARY  LOAN 

AUG  1  4  1987 

UNIV.  OF  CALIF..  BERK. 

FORM  NO.  DD  13,  60m, 

676          UNIVERSITY  OF 
BERKEI 

CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
.EY,  CA  94720 

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